I want to share something powerful with you. God has offered divine forgiveness to Israel. He's redeemed them, forgiven them. Think about that – innocent blood, forgiven. It’s a reminder of the incredible grace available to all of us.
God has exalted Jesus as Prince and Savior, offering repentance and forgiveness of sins. This is a gift, not just for Israel, but for everyone who believes. I encourage you to pray for Israel's salvation. Blessing this holy nation brings blessings in return. God’s grace and favor will become evident in your life when you hold His chosen people close to your heart. They are precious in His sight.
Remember this: never curse Israel. Speaking against them invites judgment and can bring real hardship into your life. Instead, let's lift them up in prayer and show the same love and forgiveness that God has shown us.
But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, the ones I have chosen, descendants of my friend Abraham,I brought you back from distant lands, I called you back from faraway places, telling you, “You are my servants.” I have chosen you, and I have not abandoned you.
Listen, people of Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is the only one.You shall love the Lord your God with all your mind and with all your being and with all your strength.
“Then get rid of those foreign gods you have and promise to be loyal only to the Lord, the God of Israel,” Joshua told them.
Lord, please forgive your people Israel who you rescued, and do not hold them guilty of shedding of innocent blood. In this way the guilt for shedding blood will be forgiven.”
Now go and announce this message to the north: Come back, unfaithful Israel, declares the Lord. I won't be angry with you anymore, because I am merciful, declares the Lord. I won't be angry forever.
“Jacob will no longer be your name,” said the man. “Instead you will be called Israel, because you fought with God and with men and you won.”
However, you are my witnesses, the Lord declares, and my chosen servant, so that you can think about it, and believe me and understand that I am God. No god preceded me, and none will come after me.
But now listen, Jacob, my servant, Israel, the one I've chosen.Who makes a god, who molds an idol that's no use to them?Everyone who makes idols should be ashamed of themselves. Idol-makers are just human beings! Bring them all together and have them stand up, trembling in shame.The blacksmith makes an iron tool for woodcarving. Working over hot coals, he hammers it into shape as hard as he can. He gets hungry and loses his strength, and because he doesn't drink he grows weak.The woodworker measures out a piece of wood, and draws an image on it. He carves it with a chisel and uses a compass to make an outline. He creates an idol that looks like a person, someone beautiful, to be put in a shrine.He chops down cedars, or takes a cypress or an oak. He lets them grow strong in the forest. He plants a fir tree, and the rain makes it grow.Some wood he burns, to keep him warm and to bake his bread. Then he uses some of the same wood to make a god to worship, an idol he bows down to!So he burns part of the wood to roast his meat to eat, and to warm him up, and says, “Ah! Look at that fire that keeps me warm!”Then he uses the rest of the wood to make himself a god, an idol he bows down to in worship and prays to, saying, “Save me, for you are my god!”How ignorant they are, how dumb! Their eyes have been plastered over so they can't see, their minds closed so they don't have insight.They can't think things over, they don't have the wisdom or the understanding to say, “Some of the wood I burned in the fire—I used it to bake my bread and roast my meat to eat. The rest of it I used to make a disgusting idol, and I bow down in worship to a block of wood.”This is what the Lord says, the one who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Don't be afraid, Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, the one I've chosen.
I call you by name and I have given you a title of honor, for the sake of Jacob my servant, and Israel the one I chose, even though you don't know me.
Now if you really obey what I say and keep the agreement with me, then out of all the nations you will be a special people that belong to me. While the whole world is mine,for me you will be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.’ This is what you are to tell the Israelites.”
People of Israel, what does the Lord your God want from you? He wants you to respect the Lord your God by following all his ways. He wants you to love him. He wants you to worship the Lord your God with all your mind and with all your being,He wants you to keep the commandments and regulations of the Lord that I am giving you today for your own good.
For you are the Lord your God's holy people. The Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special people, valued above all other peoples on the earth.
‘You saw for yourselves what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles' wings, how I brought you to myself.Now if you really obey what I say and keep the agreement with me, then out of all the nations you will be a special people that belong to me. While the whole world is mine,for me you will be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.’ This is what you are to tell the Israelites.”
But from you, Bethlehem Ephrathah (though you are only a small place in Judah), will come a ruler of Israel to do my will. His existence is from the ages of eternity past.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for the Lord loves us with a trustworthy love and his salvation knows no limits.
I will make you my own people. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
God exalted him to a position of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior, as a way to bring repentance to Israel, and for the forgiveness of sins.
Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah.It won't be like the agreement that I made with their forefathers when I held their hands and led them out of Egypt. They broke that agreement, even though I was faithful like a husband to them, declares the Lord.But this is the agreement I'm going to make with the people of Israel at that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws inside them and write them in their minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people.No one will need to teach a neighbor or their brother, telling them, “You ought to know the Lord.” For everyone will know me, from the smallest to the greatest. I will forgive them when they do wrong, and I will forget about their sins.
I will wash away all their sins that they committed against me, and I will forgive all their guilt from when they sinned in rebelling against me.
But being compassionate he pardoned their guilt and did not destroy all of them. He often held back his anger—he did not pour out all his fury.
I chose a special relationship with you alone out of all the families of the earth, and so I will punish you for your wrongdoing.
No one will need to teach a neighbor or their brother, telling them, “You ought to know the Lord.” For everyone will know me, from the smallest to the greatest. I will forgive them when they do wrong, and I will forget about their sins.
What nation is as great as us, having a god so close to them as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call on him?
But now this is what the Lord says to Jacob, the one who created you; to Israel, the one who formed you: “Don't be afraid! I have saved you! I have called you by name; you are mine!
For this is what the Lord Almighty said: Afterwards the glorious Lord sent me against the nations that plundered you—for those who touch you touch the apple of his eye.
and if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and return to me, and turn away from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land.
Stand up and shine, for your light has come; the glory of the Lord has risen on you.Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will work for you. Even though I did hit you when I was angry with you, now I will be kind and merciful to you.Your gates will always be kept open. They won't ever be shut, day or night, so the wealth of the nations can be brought to you, with their kings being led along in a procession.Any nation or kingdom that does not serve you will be completely destroyed.The glory of Lebanon will come to you: cedars, acacias, and myrtle trees, to make my Temple beautiful and to honor the place I choose to live.The children of those who persecuted you will come and bow before you; everyone who looked down on you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.Once you were abandoned and despised, somewhere people didn't go, but now I will make you a place to be proud of forever, a joy to every generation.Nations will provide you with what you need, kings will take care of you as if you were their own children. You will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.I will bring you gold instead of bronze, silver instead of iron, bronze instead of wood, and iron instead of stone. I will appoint Peace as your watchman, and Goodness as your leader.There won't be any more violence in your land, no more devastation and destruction within your borders. You will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.You won't need the light of the sun during the day, or the light of the moon at night, for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.Even though darkness covers the earth, and deep darkness covers the people, the Lord has risen to shine on you, and his glory appears over you.Your sun will never set, and your moon will never wane, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your time of mourning will end.All your people will be good, and they will own the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted with my hands, and they will reveal my glory.The smallest of your families will increase to a thousand, and the most insignificant will become a great nation. I am the Lord; at the right time I will do this quickly.Nations will come to your light, and kings will come to the brightness of your shining dawn.
Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will bring back my people Israel and Judah from captivity, declares the Lord. I will bring them back to the country I gave to their forefathers, and they will own it again.
For I will bring you back from among the nations, gathering you from all the different countries, and I will lead you back into your own country.I will also pour pure water over you, and you will be clean. I will wash you clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols.I will give you a new mind and I will put a new spirit inside you. I will take away your stubborn mind and I will give you a loving mind.I will put my Spirit inside you so you will follow my laws and remember to do what I tell you.Then you will live in the country I gave to your forefathers. You will be my people, and I will be your God.
Be strong! Be brave! Don't be frightened or terrified of them, because the Lord your God will go with you. He won't ever leave you or abandon you.
He says, “It's nothing much for you to be my servant to bring back the tribes of Jacob, those people of Israel that I've preserved. I'm also going to make you a light for the foreigners so that my salvation may reach everybody.”
But then I ask, “Has God rejected his people?” Of course not! I'm an Israelite myself, from the tribe of Benjamin.May their eyes become blind so they cannot see, and may their backs always be bent low in dejection.” So am I saying that they stumbled and consequently failed completely? Not at all! But as a result of their mistakes, salvation came to other nations, to “make them jealous.”Now if even their failure benefits the world, and their loss profits the foreigners, how much more beneficial it would be if they were to completely fulfill what they were meant to be. Now let me speak to you foreigners. Insofar as I'm a missionary to foreigners, I promote what I'm doingthat somehow I might make my people jealous and save some of them.If the result of God's rejection of them is that the world becomes God's friends, the result of God's acceptance of them would be like the dead coming back to life!If the first part of the bread dough given as an offering is holy, then so is all the rest; if the roots of a tree are holy, then so are the branches.Now if some of the branches have been broken off, and you—a wild olive shoot—have been grafted in, and have shared with them the benefit of nourishment from the olive tree's roots,then you shouldn't look down on the other branches. If you're tempted to boast, remember it's not you who are supporting the roots, but the roots that are supporting you.You could make the claim, “Branches were broken off so I could be grafted in.”God has not rejected his chosen people. Don't you recall what Scripture says about Elijah? How he complained about Israel to God, saying,
The Lord told Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, your family home, and travel to the land I'm going to show you.But the land had been hit by famine. So Abram continued on to Egypt, planning to live there because the famine was so bad.As he approached Egypt and was about to cross the border, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are.When the Egyptians see you, they'll say, ‘She's his wife,’ and they'll kill me but not you!Tell them you're my sister so I'll be treated well because of you, and my life will be spared for your sake.”When Abram arrived in Egypt, the people there saw how beautiful Sarai was.Pharaoh's officials also noticed and spoke positively about her to Pharaoh. So Sarai was taken to his palace to become one of his wives.Pharaoh treated Abram well because of her, giving him sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.But the Lord caused Pharaoh and the people in his palace to suffer from terrible diseases because of Sarai, Abram's wife.So Pharaoh ordered Abram brought to him and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife?Why did you say, ‘She's my sister,’ and let me take her to become one of my wives? So here's your wife! Take her and leave!”I will make you the ancestor of a great nation and I will bless you. I will make sure you have a great reputation and that you are a blessing to others.Pharaoh ordered his guards to expel him and his wife from the country, along with everyone with them and all their possessions.I will bless those who bless you; I will curse those who curse you. Everyone on earth will be blessed through you.”
tell them that this is what the Lord God says: I'm going to bring the Israelites back from the nations where they've gone. I will gather them from everywhere and take them back to their own country.I will make them one nation in the country, living in the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule them all. They won't be two nations any longer; never again will they be divided into two kingdoms.
The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem, gathering together the people of Israel who have been scattered.
At that time the people of Judah will join with the people of Israel, and they will return from the land of the north to the country I gave to your forefathers to own.
I can't remain silent because of my love for Zion, I can't keep quiet because of my love for Jerusalem, until her integrity shines like a beam of light, until her salvation blazes like a burning torch.
As the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will last forever, so your descendants and your reputation will also last forever, says the Lord.
“Comfort, yes comfort my people!” says your God.Look! The Lord God is coming with power! He will rule with a firm hand. Look! He's bringing his reward with him, coming to give his gift.He looks after his flock like a shepherd. He picks up the lambs in his arms and holds them close to his chest. He leads those that are nursing young.Who has measured the waters he holds in the palm of his hand? Who has marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has worked out the amount of dust of the earth? Who has weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or taught him what to do as his counselor?Who did the Lord go to for advice to help him understand? Who taught him right from wrong? Who gave him knowledge and showed him the way of wisdom?It's obvious that the nations are just a drop in a bucket. They're like dust on a set of scales. He can pick up islands as if they weigh next to nothing.All the wood in Lebanon for a fire and all its animals as a sacrifice wouldn't be enough to provide a burnt offering.To him all the nations are like nothing. He counts them as less than nothing—like they don't exist.Who do you think is like God? What image do you think he looks like?Is he a metal idol that a craftsman casts in a mold, and then a goldsmith overlays it with gold and makes silver chains for it?“Speak lovingly to the people of Jerusalem, telling them that their hard times are over, that their sins have been forgiven, and that the Lord has paid them twice over for their sins.”
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, for it is unshakeable and endures forever.In the same way that the mountains surround Jerusalem, the Lord surrounds his people, now and forever.
The Lord will roar from Zion, shouting in a loud voice from Jerusalem, shaking the heavens and the earth. But the Lord will shelter his people, protecting the people of Israel.
But even so, in the future I will restore and repair it, and I will heal its people and give them lasting peace and safety.
Then they will know that I am with them as the Lord their God, and that the people of Israel belong to me, declares the Lord God.
Many nations will come and say, “Let's go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob. There God will teach us his ways and we will follow his directions.” God's teachings will spread out from Zion, his word from Jerusalem.
For your Maker is your husband, the Lord Almighty is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, he is called the God of the whole earth.
It is a land that the Lord your God takes care of. The Lord your God is always watching over it, all year long.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for the Lord loves us with a trustworthy love and his salvation knows no limits.He will save Israel from every sin.
They are my fellow-Israelites, God's chosen people. God revealed to them his glory and made agreements with them, giving them the law, true worship, and his promises.They are our forefathers—ancestors of Christ, humanly-speaking, the one who rules over everything, the eternally-blessed God. Amen.
Listen, nations, to what the Lord has to say, and let others know about in faraway countries: The Lord who scattered Israel will gather them together and keep them safe, just like a shepherd looks after his flock.
Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: I'm going to gather you from the other nations and bring you back from the countries where you've been scattered, and I will return the country of Israel to you.
This is what the Lord Almighty says. I will save my people from the countries to the east and to the west.I will bring them back and they will live in Jerusalem, and they will be my people and I will be their God, trustworthy and true.
But Israel will be saved by the Lord with a salvation that lasts forever. You will never be ashamed or disgraced for all eternity.
He has not forgotten to show his trustworthy love and faithfulness to the descendants of Israel. Our God has made his salvation clear to the ends of the earth.
Who else is as fortunate as your people Israel? Who else on earth did God go and redeem to make his own people? You gained a wonderful reputation for yourself by all the tremendous, amazing things you did in driving out other nations and their gods before your people as you redeemed them from Egypt.You made your people Israel your own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.
Moses went up the mountain to God. The Lord spoke to Moses from the mountain, and told him, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob, the Israelites:‘You saw for yourselves what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles' wings, how I brought you to myself.Now if you really obey what I say and keep the agreement with me, then out of all the nations you will be a special people that belong to me. While the whole world is mine,for me you will be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.’ This is what you are to tell the Israelites.”
But the Lord will be merciful to the descendants of Jacob. Once again he will choose Israel and he will bring them back to live once more in their own land. Foreigners will come and join them there, and they will unite with the descendants of Jacob.
But I will give you back your health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord, because people say you've been abandoned and that no one cares about you, Zion.
Long ago the Lord came and told us, My love for you will last forever. I hold you close to me with my trustworthy love.