Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.
Isaiah 11
And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from its roots will bear fruit.
And the spirit of Yahweh shall rest on him—
a spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a spirit of counsel and might,
a spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.
And his breath is in the fear of Yahweh.
And he shall judge not by his eyesight,
and he shall rebuke not by what he hears with his ears.
But he shall judge the poor with righteousness,
and he shall decide for the needy of the earth with rectitude.
And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and he shall kill the wicked person with the breath of his lips.
And righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
And a wolf shall stay with a lamb,
and a leopard shall lie down with a kid,
and a calf and a lion and a fatling together
as a small boy leads them.
And a cow and a bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together.
And a lion shall eat straw like the cattle.
And an infant shall play over a serpent’s hole,
and a toddler shall put his hand on a viper’s hole.
They will not injure and they will not destroy on all of my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh,
as the waters cover the sea.
And this shall happen on that day:
the nations shall inquire of the root of Jesse,
which shall be standing as a signal to the peoples,
and his resting place shall be glorious.
And this shall happen on that day:
The Lord will again extend his hand a second time
to acquire the remnant of his people that is left,
from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea,
and he will raise a signal for the nations.
And he will gather the outcasts of Israel,
and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four corners of the earth.
And the jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off.
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
and Judah shall not be an enemy of Ephraim.
But they shall swoop upon the Philistine shoulder, westward.
Together they shall plunder the sons of the east.
Edom and Moab will be under their command,
and the sons of Ammon will be their subjugated people.
And Yahweh will divide the tongue of the sea of Egypt,
and he will wave his hand over the river with his scorching wind;
and he will strike it into seven streams,
and he will make it passable by foot.
So there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people that remains,
as there was for Israel when it went up from the land of Egypt.
Isaiah 12
And you will say on that day,
"I will give you thanks, Yahweh,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
and you comforted me.
Look! God is my salvation;
I will trust, and I will not be afraid,
for my strength and might is Yah, Yahweh;
and he has become salvation for me."
And you will draw water from the wells of salvation in joy. And you will say on that day,
"Give thanks to Yahweh;
call on his name.
Make his deeds known among the peoples;
bring to remembrance that his name is exalted.
Sing praises to Yahweh, for he has done a glorious thing;
this is known in all the earth.
Inhabitant of Zion, shout out and sing for joy,
for the holy one of Israel is great in your midst."
Isaiah 13
The oracle of Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
Raise a signal on a bare hill,
lift up your voice to them;
wave the hand and may they enter the gateways of the noblemen.
I myself I have commanded my consecrated ones,
I have also summoned my mighty warriors concerning my anger,
the ones who exalt over my majesty.
A sound, a noise is on the mountains,
the likeness of many people!
A sound of the roar of the kingdoms,
of nations gathering!
Yahweh of hosts is mustering an army for battle.
They are coming from a distant land,
from the end of the heavens,
Yahweh and the weapons of his indignation,
to destroy the whole earth.
Wail, for the day of Yahweh is near;
it will come like destruction from Shaddai!
Therefore all hands will grow slack,
and every human heart will melt,
and they will be dismayed.
Pangs and labor pains will seize them;
they will tremble like a woman giving birth.
They will stare at one another,
their faces flushing.
Look! The day of Yahweh is coming,
cruel and wrath and the burning of anger,
to make the earth a desolation,
and he will destroy its sinners from it.
For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light;
the sun will keep back when it comes out,
and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
And I will punish the world for its evil
and the wicked for their iniquity.
And I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant,
and I will bring the haughtiness of tyrants low.
I will make humanity more rare than gold
and humankind more than the gold of Ophir.
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will quake from its place
because of the wrath of Yahweh of hosts,
and in the day his anger burns.
And this shall happen:
like a hunted gazelle or sheep with none to gather them,
they will each turn to his own people,
and they will each flee to his own land.
Everyone who is found will be pierced through,
and everyone who is carried away will fall by the sword.
And their children will be dashed into pieces before their eyes;
their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be raped.
Look! I am stirring the Medes up against them,
who do not value silver
and do not delight in gold.
And their bows will shatter young men.
And they will not show mercy on the fruit of the womb;
their eyes will not look compassionately on children.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It will not be inhabited forever,
and it will not be dwelled in forever;
and no Arab will pitch a tent there,
and shepherds will not allow their flocks to lie down there.
But wild animals will lie down there,
and their houses will be full of howling creatures,
and the daughters of ostriches will live there,
and goats will dance there.
And hyenas will answer in its palaces,
and jackals in the pleasure palaces;
and its time is coming soon,
and its days will not be prolonged.
Psalm 118
Give thanks to Yahweh for he is good,
for his loyal love is forever.
Let Israel say,
"His loyal love is forever."
Let the house of Aaron say,
"His loyal love is forever."
Let those who fear Yahweh say,
"His loyal love is forever."
Out of my distress I called to Yah.
Yah answered me, setting me in a broad place.
Yahweh is for me; I do not fear.
What can mere humans do to me?
Yahweh is for me as my helper,
and so I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in Yahweh
than to trust in humans.
It is better to take refuge in Yahweh
than to trust princes.
All nations surrounded me.
In the name of Yahweh I opposed them indeed.
They surrounded me; yes, they surrounded me.
In the name of Yahweh I opposed them indeed.
They surrounded me like bees;
they were extinguished like a fire of thorns.
In the name of Yahweh I opposed them indeed.
You pushed me hard to make me fall,
but Yahweh helped me.
Yah is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.
The sound of rejoicing and salvation
is in the tents of the righteous;
the right hand of Yahweh has done valiantly.
The right hand of Yahweh has exalted;
the right hand of Yahweh has done valiantly.
I will not die but live,
and tell of the works of Yah.
Yah has disciplined me severely,
but he did not consign me to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to Yah.
This is the gate of Yahweh,
through which the righteous will enter.
I will give thanks to you for you have answered me,
and you have become my salvation.
The stone the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is from Yahweh;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day Yahweh has worked;
let us rejoice and be glad in him.
O Yahweh, please save;
O Yahweh, please grant success.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh.
We bless you from the house of Yahweh.
Yahweh is God, and he has given us light.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords
to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you.
You are my God; I will exalt you.
Give thanks to Yahweh for he is good,
for his loyal love is forever.
Matthew 27
Now when it was early morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus in order to put him to death. And after tying him up, they led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
Then when Judas, the one who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!" But they said, "What is that to us? You see to it!" And throwing the silver coins into the temple he departed. And he went away and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the silver coins and said, "It is not permitted to put them into the temple treasury, because it is blood money." And after taking counsel, they purchased with them the Potter’s Field, for a burial place for strangers. (For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood until today.) Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, who said, "And they took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one who had been priced, on whom a price had been set by the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, just as the Lord directed me."
So Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, "Are you the king of the Jews?" And Jesus said, "You say so." And when he was being accused by the chief priests and elders he answered nothing. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?" And he did not reply to him, not even with reference to one statement, so that the governor was very astonished.
Now at each feast, the governor was accustomed to release one prisoner to the crowd—the one whom they wanted. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner named Jesus Barabbas. So after they had assembled, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you—Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ?" (For he knew that they had handed him over because of envy. And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much as a result of a dream today because of him.") But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds that they should ask for Barabbas and put Jesus to death. So the governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas!" Pilate said to them, "What then should I do with Jesus, the one who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!" And he said, "Why? What wrong has he done?" But they began to shout even louder, saying, "Let him be crucified!"
So Pilate, when he saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but instead an uproar was developing, took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this man. You see to it!" And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children!" Then he released Barabbas for them, but after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over so that he could be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s residence and gathered the whole cohort to him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet military cloak around him, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling down before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they spat on him and took the reed and repeatedly struck him on his head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the military cloak and put his own clothes on him, and led him away in order to crucify him.
And as they were going out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon. They forced this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink, and when he tasted it he did not want to drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots. And they sat down and were watching over him there. And they put above his head the charge against him in writing: "This is Jesus, the king of the Jews." Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!" In the same way also the chief priests, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, "He saved others; he is not able to save himself! He is the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him! He trusts in God; let him deliver him now if he wants to, because he said, ‘I am the Son of God’!" And in the same way even the robbers who were crucified with him were reviling him.
Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?") And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, said, "This man is summoning Elijah!" And immediately one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, "Leave him alone! let us see if Elijah is coming to save him." And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook and the rocks were split. And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Now the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that took place, were extremely frightened, saying, "Truly this man was God’s Son!" And there were many women there, observing from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving him, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Now when it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who also was a disciple of Jesus himself. This man approached Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a large stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Now Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
Now on the next day, which is after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate, saying, "Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you know how." So they went with the guard of soldiers and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.