WEBVTT 00:00:00.919 --> 00:00:03.720 Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:05.740 taking this journey together to read the Bible 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:09.099 in a year. Today's reading is from the book of 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:15.019 Isaiah, chapters 52 through 55. Chapter 52 Awake, 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:18.239 awake, put on your strength, O Zion. Put on your 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.600 beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city. 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:23.879 For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:26.600 longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust. 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:30.059 Arise, sit down, O Jerusalem. Loose yourself 00:00:30.059 --> 00:00:32.939 from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter 00:00:32.939 --> 00:00:35.979 of Zion. For thus says the Lord, You have sold 00:00:35.979 --> 00:00:38.740 yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed 00:00:38.740 --> 00:00:42.119 without money. For thus says the Lord God, My 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:44.920 people went down at first into Egypt to dwell 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:47.899 there. Then Assyrian oppressed them without cause. 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:51.439 Now therefore, what have I here, says the Lord, 00:00:51.619 --> 00:00:54.780 that my people are taken away for nothing? Those 00:00:54.780 --> 00:00:57.859 who rule over them make them wail, says the Lord. 00:00:58.270 --> 00:01:01.270 and my name is blasphemed continually every day. 00:01:01.609 --> 00:01:04.609 Therefore my people shall know my name, therefore 00:01:04.609 --> 00:01:07.750 they shall know in that day that I am he who 00:01:07.750 --> 00:01:12.049 speaks, behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the 00:01:12.049 --> 00:01:14.349 mountains are the feet of him who brings good 00:01:14.349 --> 00:01:18.370 news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings 00:01:18.370 --> 00:01:21.510 of good things, who proclaims salvation, who 00:01:21.510 --> 00:01:24.799 says to Zion, your God reigns. Your watchmen 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:27.560 shall lift up their voices. With their voices 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:30.079 they shall sing together, for they shall see 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.900 eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion. Break 00:01:33.900 --> 00:01:37.400 forth into joy, sing together, you waste places 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:40.079 of Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted his 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:43.280 people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.140 made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the 00:01:46.140 --> 00:01:48.420 nations, and all the ends of the earth shall 00:01:48.420 --> 00:01:52.680 see the salvation of our God. Depart, depart. 00:01:53.290 --> 00:01:56.769 Go out from there. Touch no unclean thing. Go 00:01:56.769 --> 00:02:00.329 out from the midst of her. Be clean, you who 00:02:00.329 --> 00:02:02.829 bear the vessels of the Lord. For you shall not 00:02:02.829 --> 00:02:06.329 go out with haste, nor go by flight. For the 00:02:06.329 --> 00:02:08.590 Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel 00:02:08.590 --> 00:02:12.409 will be your rear guard. Behold, my servant shall 00:02:12.409 --> 00:02:16.090 deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled 00:02:16.090 --> 00:02:19.430 and be very high. Just as many were astonished 00:02:19.430 --> 00:02:23.139 at you, so his visage. was marred more than any 00:02:23.139 --> 00:02:26.280 man, and his form more than the sons of men. 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:30.360 So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:33.520 shut their mouths at him, for what had not been 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.599 told them they shall see, and what they had not 00:02:36.599 --> 00:02:43.580 heard they shall consider. Chapter 53 Who has 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:46.199 believed our report, and to whom has the arm 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:48.740 of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow 00:02:48.740 --> 00:02:51.960 up before him as a tender plant, and as a root 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:55.520 out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness, 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.639 and when we see him, there is no beauty that 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:01.819 we should desire him. He is despised and rejected 00:03:01.819 --> 00:03:05.199 by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:08.620 grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from 00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:12.039 him. He was despised, and we did not esteem him. 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:15.300 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:19.060 sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:21.800 by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:24.719 our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:27.659 the chastisement for our peace was upon him, 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:31.240 and by his stripes we are healed. All we like 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:34.520 sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:37.500 to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:40.939 the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and 00:03:40.939 --> 00:03:43.400 he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:46.520 He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:50.129 a sheep before its shearers is silent, So he 00:03:50.129 --> 00:03:53.370 opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison 00:03:53.370 --> 00:03:56.210 and from judgment. And who will declare his generation? 00:03:56.729 --> 00:03:59.430 For he was cut off from the land of the living. 00:03:59.629 --> 00:04:02.969 For the transgressions of my people he was stricken. 00:04:03.110 --> 00:04:05.949 And they made his grave with the wicked, but 00:04:05.949 --> 00:04:09.030 with the rich at his death. Because he had done 00:04:09.030 --> 00:04:11.830 no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 00:04:12.330 --> 00:04:15.509 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has 00:04:15.509 --> 00:04:18.509 put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering 00:04:18.509 --> 00:04:21.680 for sin, He shall see his seed, he shall prolong 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:24.220 his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall 00:04:24.220 --> 00:04:27.100 prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of 00:04:27.100 --> 00:04:30.120 his soul, and be satisfied. By his knowledge 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:33.360 my righteous servant shall justify many, for 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:36.420 he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will 00:04:36.420 --> 00:04:39.259 divide him a portion with the great, and he shall 00:04:39.259 --> 00:04:42.019 divide the spoil with the strong. Because he 00:04:42.019 --> 00:04:45.300 poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered 00:04:45.300 --> 00:04:48.040 with the transgressors. and he bore the sin of 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:51.639 many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:59.000 Chapter 54 Sing, O barren, you who have not borne. 00:04:59.180 --> 00:05:02.360 Break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:05.240 have not labored with child. For more are the 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:07.600 children of the desolate than the children of 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:10.439 the married woman, says the Lord. Enlarge the 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:13.220 place of your tent, and let them stretch out 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:15.579 the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:18.600 Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:21.379 for you shall expand to the right and to the 00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:24.079 left, and your descendants will inherit the nations 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:27.740 and make the desolate cities inhabited. Do not 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:30.620 fear, for you will not be ashamed, neither be 00:05:30.620 --> 00:05:33.259 disgraced, for you will not be put to shame, 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.120 for you will forget the shame of your youth and 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:38.740 will not remember the reproach of your widowhood 00:05:38.740 --> 00:05:42.399 anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:45.430 Lord of hosts is his name. and your Redeemer 00:05:45.430 --> 00:05:48.129 is the Holy One of Israel. He is called the God 00:05:48.129 --> 00:05:50.829 of the whole earth, for the Lord has called you, 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:53.850 like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, 00:05:54.050 --> 00:05:57.670 like a youthful wife when you were refused, says 00:05:57.670 --> 00:06:00.750 your God. For a mere moment I have forsaken you, 00:06:00.850 --> 00:06:03.889 but with great mercies I will gather you. With 00:06:03.889 --> 00:06:07.790 a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, 00:06:07.990 --> 00:06:10.649 but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy 00:06:10.649 --> 00:06:14.029 on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. for this 00:06:14.029 --> 00:06:17.149 is like the waters of noah to me for as i have 00:06:17.149 --> 00:06:19.829 sworn that the waters of noah would no longer 00:06:19.829 --> 00:06:22.990 cover the earth so have i sworn that i would 00:06:22.990 --> 00:06:26.089 not be angry with you nor rebuke you for the 00:06:26.089 --> 00:06:28.790 mountains shall depart and the hills be removed 00:06:28.790 --> 00:06:32.589 but my kindness shall not depart from you nor 00:06:32.589 --> 00:06:35.709 shall my covenant of peace be removed says the 00:06:35.709 --> 00:06:39.250 lord who has mercy on you or you afflicted one 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.899 tossed with tempest and not comforted. Behold, 00:06:42.980 --> 00:06:46.519 I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:49.399 lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:52.420 your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, 00:06:52.579 --> 00:06:56.000 and all your walls of precious stones. All your 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.620 children shall be taught by the Lord, and great 00:06:58.620 --> 00:07:01.560 shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:04.500 you shall be established. You shall be far from 00:07:04.500 --> 00:07:07.379 oppression, for you shall not fear, and from 00:07:07.379 --> 00:07:10.759 terror for it shall not come near you. Indeed, 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.120 they shall surely assemble, but not because of 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:16.160 me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:19.600 for your sake. Behold, I have created the blacksmith, 00:07:19.740 --> 00:07:22.939 who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth 00:07:22.939 --> 00:07:26.220 an instrument for his work, and I have created 00:07:26.220 --> 00:07:29.600 the spoiler to destroy. No weapon formed against 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:32.699 you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises 00:07:32.699 --> 00:07:36.279 against you in judgment you shall condemn. This 00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:38.459 is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:41.899 and their righteousness is from me, says the 00:07:41.899 --> 00:07:50.319 Lord. Oh, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:53.920 and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.939 Yes, come buy wine and milk, without money and 00:07:57.939 --> 00:08:00.920 without price. Why do you spend money for what 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:03.660 is not bread, and your wages for what does not 00:08:03.660 --> 00:08:06.939 satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what 00:08:06.939 --> 00:08:09.800 is good, and let your soul delight itself in 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:13.220 abundance. Incline your ear and come to me. Here 00:08:13.220 --> 00:08:16.040 and your soul shall live, and I will make an 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:18.600 everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:21.720 of David. Indeed, I have given him as a witness 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:24.500 to the people, a leader and commander for the 00:08:24.500 --> 00:08:27.339 people. Surely you shall call a nation you do 00:08:27.339 --> 00:08:30.439 not know, and nations who do not know you shall 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:32.899 run to you, because of the Lord your God and 00:08:32.899 --> 00:08:35.700 the Holy One of Israel. for he has glorified 00:08:35.700 --> 00:08:39.279 you. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.600 upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:45.419 his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. 00:08:45.700 --> 00:08:48.279 Let him return to the Lord, and he will have 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:51.759 mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:55.000 pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:59.139 nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. for 00:08:59.139 --> 00:09:01.980 as the heavens are higher than the earth so are 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:04.519 my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:07.600 than your thoughts for as the rain comes down 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:10.779 and the snow from heaven and do not return there 00:09:10.779 --> 00:09:14.240 but water the earth and make it bring forth and 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:17.399 bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread 00:09:17.399 --> 00:09:20.960 to the eater so shall my word be that goes forth 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:23.980 from my mouth it shall not return to me void 00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:27.539 but it shall accomplish what i please and it 00:09:27.539 --> 00:09:30.159 shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:33.360 For you shall go out with joy and be led out 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:36.139 with peace. The mountains and the hills shall 00:09:36.139 --> 00:09:38.940 break forth into singing before you, and all 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:41.240 the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:44.460 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress 00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:47.080 tree, and instead of the briar shall come up 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:49.759 the myrtle tree. And it shall be to the Lord 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:52.840 for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall 00:09:52.840 --> 00:10:01.110 not be cut off. I hope you enjoyed today's reading 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:03.450 as much as I did and I look forward to seeing 00:10:03.450 --> 00:10:05.509 you again tomorrow to continue on our journey. 00:10:05.610 --> 00:10:07.289 God bless you and have a great day.