Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Isaiah, chapters 42 and 43. Chapter 42 Behold
my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom
my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him.
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
He will not cry out nor raise his voice, nor
cause his voice to be heard in the street. A
bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax
he will not quench. He will bring forth justice
for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged,
till he has established justice in the earth,
and the coastlands shall wait for his law. 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. 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 to open blind eyes, to bring
out prisoners from the prison, those who sit
in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord,
that is my name, and my glory I will not give
to another. nor my praise to carved images behold
the former things have come to pass and new things
i declare before they spring forth i tell you
of them sing to the lord a new song and his praise
from the ends of the earth you who go down to
the sea and all that is in it you coast lands
and you inhabitants of them let the wilderness
and its cities lift up their voice the villages
that qidar inhabits let the inhabitants of sila
sing Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the Lord and declare His
praise in the coastlands. 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.
I have held my peace a long time. I have been
still and restrained myself. Now I will cry like
a woman in labor. I will pant and gasp at once.
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.
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. 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. Hear, you deaf, and
look, you blind, that you may see. 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? Seeing many things,
but you do not observe, opening the ears, but
he does not hear. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness' sake. He will exalt the law
and make it honorable. But this is a people robbed
and plundered. All of them are 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. Who among you will give
ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the
time to come? 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. 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. Chapter 43 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.
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.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
your Savior. I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia
and Saba in your place. 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. Fear not, for I am
with you. I will bring your descendants from
the east, and gather you from the west. 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.
Everyone who is called by my name, whom I have
created for my glory, I have formed him, yes,
I have made him. Bring out the blind people who
have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. 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. 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.
I, even I, am the Lord, and besides me there
is no Savior. 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. 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? 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. I am the Lord, your
Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Thus
says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, and
a path through the mighty waters, 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. Do not remember the former things,
nor consider the things of old. 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. 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. This people I have formed
for myself. They shall declare my praise. But
you have not called upon me, O Jacob, and you
have been weary of me, O Israel. 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 green offerings,
nor wearied you with incense. 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. I, even I, am he who
blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins. Put me in
remembrance. Let us contend together. State your
case that you may be acquitted. Your first father
sinned, and your mediators have transgressed
against me. Therefore I will profane the princes
of the sanctuary. I will give Jacob to the curse
and Israel to reproaches. I hope you enjoyed
today's reading as much as I did and I look forward
to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our
journey. God bless you and have a great day.