Reading Plan
Comprehensive Reading Plan (365 days) New Testament Reading Plan (83 days) Old Testament Plan (282 days) Old/New Testament Plan (365 days) Survey Reading Plan (61 days) Through-the-Bible Reading Plan (365 days)
Bible Version
Apostles' Bible Complete (2004) King James Version (1769) New King James Version (1982) Today's English Version (Good News Bible) (1992) Voice In Wilderness (2006)
1
Jerusalem, be strong and great again! Holy city of God, clothe yourself with splendor! The heathen will never enter your gates again.
2
Shake yourself free, Jerusalem! Rise from the dust and sit on your throne! Undo the chains that bind you, captive people of Zion!
3
The Sovereign LORD says to his people, "When you became slaves, no money was paid for you; in the same way nothing will be paid to set you free.
4
When you went to live in Egypt as foreigners, you did so of your own free will; Assyria, however, took you away by force and paid nothing for you.
5
And now in Babylonia the same thing has happened: you are captives, and nothing was paid for you. Those who rule over you boast and brag and constantly show contempt for me.
6
In time to come you will acknowledge that I am God and that I have spoken to you."
7
How wonderful it is to see a messenger coming across the mountains, bringing good news, the news of peace! He announces victory and says to Zion, "Your God is king!"
8
Those who guard the city are shouting, shouting together for joy. They can see with their own eyes the return of the LORD to Zion.
9
Break into shouts of joy, you ruins of Jerusalem! The LORD will rescue his city and comfort his people.
10
The LORD will use his holy power; he will save his people, and all the world will see it.
11
Be sure to leave Babylonia, all you that carry the Temple equipment. Touch no forbidden thing; keep yourselves holy and leave.
12
This time you will not have to leave in a hurry; you will not be trying to escape. The LORD your God will lead you and protect you on every side.
13
The LORD says, "My servant will succeed in his task; he will be highly honored.
14
Many people were shocked when they saw him; he was so disfigured that he hardly looked human.
15
But now many nations will marvel at him, and kings will be speechless with amazement. They will see and understand something they had never known."
1
The people reply, "Who would have believed what we now report? Who could have seen the LORD's hand in this?
2
It was the will of the LORD that his servant grow like a plant taking root in dry ground. He had no dignity or beauty to make us take notice of him. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing that would draw us to him.
3
We despised him and rejected him; he endured suffering and pain. No one would even look at him--- we ignored him as if he were nothing.
4
"But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God.
5
But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received.
6
All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the LORD made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved.
7
"He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly; he never said a word. Like a lamb about to be slaughtered, like a sheep about to be sheared, he never said a word.
8
He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die, and no one cared about his fate. He was put to death for the sins of our people.
9
He was placed in a grave with those who are evil, he was buried with the rich, even though he had never committed a crime or ever told a lie."
10
The LORD says, "It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed.
11
After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain. My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased, will bear the punishment of many and for his sake I will forgive them.
12
And so I will give him a place of honor, a place among the great and powerful. He willingly gave his life and shared the fate of evil men. He took the place of many sinners and prayed that they might be forgiven."
1
Jerusalem, you have been like a childless woman, but now you can sing and shout for joy. Now you will have more children than a woman whose husband never left her.
2
Make the tent you live in larger; lengthen its ropes and strengthen the pegs!
3
You will extend your boundaries on all sides; your people will get back the land that the other nations now occupy. Cities now deserted will be filled with people.
4
Do not be afraid---you will not be disgraced again; you will not be humiliated. You will forget your unfaithfulness as a young wife, and your desperate loneliness as a widow.
5
Your Creator will be like a husband to you--- the LORD Almighty is his name. The holy God of Israel will save you--- he is the ruler of all the world.
6
Israel, you are like a young wife, deserted by her husband and deeply distressed. But the LORD calls you back to him and says:
7
"For one brief moment I left you; with deep love I will take you back.
8
I turned away angry for only a moment, but I will show you my love forever." So says the LORD who saves you.
9
"In the time of Noah I promised never again to flood the earth. Now I promise not to be angry with you again; I will not reprimand or punish you.
10
The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end; I will keep forever my promise of peace." So says the LORD who loves you.
11
The LORD says, "O Jerusalem, you suffering, helpless city, with no one to comfort you, I will rebuild your foundations with precious stones.
12
I will build your towers with rubies, your gates with stones that glow like fire, and the wall around you with jewels.
13
"I myself will teach your people and give them prosperity and peace.
14
Justice and right will make you strong. You will be safe from oppression and terror.
15
Whoever attacks you, does it without my consent; whoever fights against you will fall.
16
"I create the blacksmith, who builds a fire and forges weapons. I also create the soldier, who uses the weapons to kill.
17
But no weapon will be able to hurt you; you will have an answer for all who accuse you. I will defend my servants and give them victory." The LORD has spoken.
