Is. 54:1–17

54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!

Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the desolate one are more numerous

than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

2Make your tent larger,

stretch your tent curtains farther out!

Spare no effort,

lengthen your ropes,

and pound your stakes deep.

3For you will spread out to the right and to the left;

your children will conquer nations

and will resettle desolate cities.

4Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame.

Don’t be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated.

You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;

you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment.

5For your husband is the one who made you—

the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name.

He is your Protector, the Holy One of Israel.

He is called “God of the entire earth.”

6“Indeed, the Lord will call you back

like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression,

like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.

7“For a short time I abandoned you,

but with great compassion I will gather you.

8In a burst of anger I rejected you momentarily,

but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”

says your Protector, the Lord.

9“As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time,

when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood would never again cover the earth.

In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.

10Even if the mountains are removed

and the hills displaced,

my devotion will not be removed from you,

nor will my covenant of friendship be displaced,”

says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.

11“O afflicted one, driven away, and unconsoled!

Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony

and lay your foundation with lapis lazuli.

12I will make your pinnacles out of gems,

your gates out of beryl,

and your outer wall out of beautiful stones.

13All your children will be followers of the Lord,

and your children will enjoy great prosperity.

14You will be reestablished when I vindicate you.

You will not experience oppression;

indeed, you will not be afraid.

You will not be terrified,

for nothing frightening will come near you.

15If anyone dares to challenge you, it will not be my doing!

Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated.

16Look, I create the craftsman,

who fans the coals into a fire

and forges a weapon.

I create the destroyer so he might devastate.

17No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;

you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you.

This is what the Lord will do for his servants—

I will vindicate them,”

says the Lord.

Ps. 40

40:1 For the music director, a psalm of David.

I relied completely on the Lord,

and he turned toward me

and heard my cry for help.

2He lifted me out of the watery pit,

out of the slimy mud.

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing.

3He gave me reason to sing a new song,

praising our God.

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord.

4How blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord

and does not seek help from the proud or from liars.

5O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;

you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us.

No one can thwart you.

I want to declare your deeds and talk about them,

but they are too numerous to recount.

6Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern.

You make that quite clear to me.

You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.

7Then I say,

“Look, I come!

What is written in the scroll pertains to me.

8I want to do what pleases you, my God.

Your law dominates my thoughts.”

9I have told the great assembly about your justice.

Look, I spare no words.

O Lord, you know this is true.

10I have not failed to tell about your justice;

I spoke about your reliability and deliverance.

I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness.

11O Lord, you do not withhold your compassion from me.

May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me!

12For innumerable dangers surround me.

My sins overtake me

so I am unable to see;

they outnumber the hairs of my head

so my strength fails me.

13Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!

O Lord, hurry and help me!

14May those who are trying to snatch away my life

be totally embarrassed and ashamed.

May those who want to harm me

be turned back and ashamed.

15May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”

be humiliated and disgraced.

16May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.

May those who love to experience your deliverance say continually,

“May the Lord be praised!”

17I am oppressed and needy.

May the Lord pay attention to me.

You are my helper and my deliverer.

O my God, do not delay.

John 18:19–40

18:19 While this was happening, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 20Jesus replied, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple courts, where all the Jewish people assemble together. I have said nothing in secret. 21Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said. They know what I said.” 22When Jesus had said this, one of the high priest’s officers who stood nearby struck him on the face and said, “Is that the way you answer the high priest?” 23Jesus replied, “If I have said something wrong, confirm what is wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why strike me?” 24Then Annas sent him, still tied up, to Caiaphas the high priest.

25Meanwhile Simon Peter was standing in the courtyard warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” Peter denied it: “I am not!” 26One of the high priest’s slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the orchard with him?” 27Then Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

28Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the Roman governor’s residence. (Now it was very early morning.) They did not go into the governor’s residence so they would not be ceremonially defiled, but could eat the Passover meal. 29So Pilate came outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30They replied, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”

31Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and pass judgment on him according to your own law!” The Jewish leaders replied, “We cannot legally put anyone to death.” 32(This happened to fulfill the word Jesus had spoken when he indicated what kind of death he was going to die.)

33So Pilate went back into the governor’s residence, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” 34Jesus replied, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or have others told you about me?” 35Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and your chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

36Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 37Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” 38Pilate asked, “What is truth?”

When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders and announced, “I find no basis for an accusation against him. 39But it is your custom that I release one prisoner for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?” 40Then they shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.)