COMMENTARY

Old Testament: Isaiah 43:18-25
The Jews are in exile in Babylon. Deutero-Isaiah sees hope in the future. God will use Cyrus, the Persian, to defeat the Babylonians. Then the Jews will be free to return to Jerusalem and set up an ideal nation. This is a new thing God is about to do, a new exodus greater than the old exodus from Egypt. But Yahweh has something against his people who came into captivity because of their unworthy worship. Nevertheless, Yahweh will forgive his people and restore them to Jerusalem.

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22
In this passage Paul is dealing with the Corinthians' charge against him that he was inconsistent and thus he was not a true apostle. Paul explains that he had a change in travel plans that excluded Corinth, even though he had planned and p…