My life has been an example to many, because you have been my strong defender.

Here I am with the children the LORD has given me. The LORD Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel.

When Ashdod was captured, the LORD said, "My servant Isaiah has been going around naked and barefoot for three years. This is a sign of what will happen to Egypt and Ethiopia.

For it seems to me that God has given the very last place to us apostles, like people condemned to die in public as a spectacle for the whole world of angels and of human beings.

To this very moment we go hungry and thirsty; we are clothed in rags; we are beaten; we wander from place to place;

when we are insulted, we answer back with kind words. We are no more than this world's garbage; we are the scum of the earth to this very moment!

Tell them that what you have done is a sign of what will happen to them---they will be refugees and captives.

Then I will be a sign to you; you will do everything I have done. The LORD says that when this happens, you will know that he is the Sovereign LORD."

The LORD says, "Here is my servant, whom I strengthen--- the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased. I have filled him with my Spirit, and he will bring justice to every nation.

He said to me, "Israel, you are my servant; because of you, people will praise me."

Before I was born, the LORD appointed me; he made me his servant to bring back his people, to bring back the scattered people of Israel. The LORD gives me honor; he is the source of my strength.

The LORD says, "My servant will succeed in his task; he will be highly honored.

After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain. My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased, will bear the punishment of many and for his sake I will forgive them.

I will give them a king like my servant David to be their one shepherd, and he will take care of them.

I, the LORD, will be their God, and a king like my servant David will be their ruler. I have spoken.

A king like my servant David will be their king. They will all be united under one ruler and will obey my laws faithfully.

He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God.

He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death--- his death on the cross.

Tell him that the LORD Almighty says, 'The man who is called The Branch will flourish where he is and rebuild the LORD's Temple.

The time is coming when the LORD will make every plant and tree in the land grow large and beautiful. All the people of Israel who survive will take delight and pride in the crops that the land produces.

The royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; but just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new king will arise from among David's descendants.

It was the will of the LORD that his servant grow like a plant taking root in dry ground. He had no dignity or beauty to make us take notice of him. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing that would draw us to him.

The LORD says, "The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land.

At that time I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will do what is right and just throughout the land.

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "I will take the top of a tall cedar and break off a tender sprout; I will plant it on a high mountain,

All the trees in the land will know that I am the LORD. I cut down the tall trees and make small trees grow tall. I wither up the green trees and make the dry trees become green. I, the LORD, have spoken. I will do what I have said I would do."

I will give them fertile fields and put an end to hunger in the land. The other nations will not sneer at them any more.

Our God is merciful and tender. He will cause the bright dawn of salvation to rise on us