“God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath and life to everyone in all
the world. And it is he who says, ’I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will guard and support you, for I have given you to my people as the personal confirmation of my
covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide all nations to me. You will open the eyes of the blind and free the captives from prison. You will release those who sit in dark
dungeons.’”
(Isaiah 42:5-7 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about God as the creator of the universe, the earth and human beings, about God as the source of life,
and about God’s chosen redeemer for the people of Israel and the entire world; and which imply an extreme enlargement and expansion of the house of Israel in the future
“But now, O Israel, the Lord who created you says: ’Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go
through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.’”
(Isaiah 43:1-3 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about God as a tender-hearted, adoptive redeemer unashamed to call us his own and to defend us
“’But you are my witnesses, O Israel!’ says the Lord. ’And you are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I
alone am God. There is no other God; there never has been and never will be. I am the Lord, and there is no other Savior.’”
(Isaiah 43:10-11 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about an emphatic and categorical declaration by God about himself as the one and only God who is Lord
and savior
“Pay attention, O Israel, for you are my servant. I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget to help you. I have swept away yours sins like the
morning mists. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”
(Isaiah 44:21-22 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about the ransom paid by a very emotional, loving God for the sole purpose of forgiving our sins and
saving humanity, and which strongly indicate that God’s gifts and call are irrevocable
“And why have I called you [Cyrus] for this work? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one. I called you by name when you did
not know me. I am the Lord; there is no other God. I have prepared you, even though you do not know me, so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the Lord, and
there is no other.”
(Isaiah 45:4-6 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about the people whom God had chosen to be his instruments to show, in no uncertain terms, that he is
God, and which strongly imply that God’s gifts and call are irrevocable
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker –
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the clay say to the potter, ’What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ’He has no hands?’
Woe to him who says to a father, ’What are your begetting?’
Or to a woman, ’To what are you giving birth?’
Thus says the Lord, the Holy one of Israel, and his Maker:
’Ask me about the things to come concerning My sons,
And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it.
I stretched out the heavens with My hands
And I ordained all their host.’”
(Isaiah 45:9-12 / NASB 2000) --- Bible verses about God as the Lord of creation and history
“Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by my own name, and I will never go back on my word:
Every knee will bow to me and every tongue will confess allegiance to my name.”
(Isaiah 45:22-23 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about God as the only source of salvation, the kind of salvation which is for all – for the
Israelites, for all the people of the world and for those to whom God grants his salvation
“And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, And My God is My strength),
He says, ’It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations [so] that My salvation may
reach to the end of the earth.”
(Isaiah 49:5-6 / NASB 2000) --- Bible verses about God’s chosen redeemer whose gift of salvation is for all – for the people of Israel, for the
people of the world and for individuals or groups of individuals to whom God grants his salvation
“Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth!
Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people
And will have compassion on His afflicted.”
(Isaiah 49:13 / NASB 2000) --- Bible verse about the need to celebrate, ecstatically, the redemptive action of God for his people
“Can a woman forget her nursing child
And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.”
(Isaiah 49:15-16 / NASB 2000) --- Bible verses about God's love for his chosen people, and about God’s love for the most unwanted and most
disadvantaged
“Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.
Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.”
(Isaiah 52:13-15 / NASB 2000) --- Bible verses about God’s servant and redeemer who suffered an extremely violent physical abuse and about his
glorious, game-changing triumph in the future as a result of his sufferings
“Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” (NASB 2000)
“Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins!
But he was wounded and crushed for our sins.
He was beaten that we might have peace.
He was whipped, and we were healed!” (NLT 1997)
(Isaiah 53:1-3 / NASB 2000 and Isaiah 53:4-5 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about the redeemer as one who was cared for and trained by God and who was
able to take all the injuries and insults in order to save humanity from its sins
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink – even if you have no money! Come, take your choice wine and milk – it’s all free! Why spend your money on food
that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul! Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, for
the life of your soul is at stake. I am ready to make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the mercies and unfailing love that I promised to David.”
(Isaiah 55:1-3 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about a priceless invitation – “an invitation fit for a king” – to God’s salvation that is offered to
anyone and to everyone
“I will also bless the Gentiles who commit themselves to the Lord and serve him and love him, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day
of rest, and who have accepted his covenant. I will bring them also to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and
sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people
Israel.”
(Isaiah 56:6-8 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about salvation and blessings as gifts given by God to Israel and to all nations
“Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed [and] for spreading out sackcloth
and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?” (NASB 2000) “No, the kind of fasting I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned and to stop
oppressing those who work for you. Treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to
those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.” (NLT 1997) “Then your light will break out like the dawn, [and] your recovery will speedily spring forth; [and] your
righteousness will go before you; [the] glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; [you] will cry, and He will say, ’Here I am.’” (NASB, 2000)
(Isaiah 58:5 and 8-9 / NASB 2000 and Isaiah 58:6-7 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about true fasting and true worship, the kind of fasting and worship
acceptable to God and, essentially, the only kind of fasting and worship acceptable to God
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
Th planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”
(Isaiah 61:1-3 / NASB 2000) --- Bible verses about God’s chosen redeemer as the “good news of great joy” for the lowly, the oppressed and the
demoralized and for all who are in need of salvation, including the Gentiles
