The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. From Isaiah 35:1-10, NRSV…
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A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots…He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;he shall strike the earth with…
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Truly, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you. Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide…
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On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll,and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. From Isaiah 29:17-24, NRSV In previous chapters from the book of Isaiah,…
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Trust in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord God you have an everlasting rock.For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height; the lofty city he lays low.He lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. From Isaiah 26:1-6, NRSV These words form part of what is entitled “Judah’s Song of Victory”. Such…
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For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ From Romans 10:9-18, NRSV For Paul, a devout Jew, it was difficult to come to terms with…
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A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall…
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On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. From Isaiah 4:2-6, NRSV We may be familiar from another passage in Isaiah with the image of the rod coming from the stem of Jesse and…
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He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples;they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks;nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. From Isaiah 2:1-5, NRSV As Advent begins and our attention turns to the coming of Christ, we are…
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Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each…
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