17  ⁿWhen the poor and needy seek water,

and there is none,

and their tongue is parched with thirst,

I the Lord will answer them;

I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18  ^oI will open rivers on the bare heights,

and fountains in the midst of the valleys.

^pI will make the wilderness a pool of water,

and the dry land springs of water.

19  ^qI will put in the wilderness the cedar,

the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.

I will set in the desert ^rthe cypress,

the plane and the pine together,

20  that they may see and know,

may consider and understand together,

that ^sthe hand of the Lord has done this,

the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21  Set forth your case, says the Lord;

bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.

22  Let them bring them, and ^ttell us

what is to happen.

Tell us the former things, what they are,

that we may consider them,

that we may know their outcome;

or declare to us the things to come.

23  ^tTell us what is to come hereafter,

that we may know that you are gods;

^udo good, or do harm,

that we may be dismayed and terrified.¹

24  Behold, ^vyou are nothing,

and your work is less than nothing;

an abomination is he who chooses you.

25  ^wI stirred up one from the north, and he has come,

^xfrom the rising of the sun, ^yand he shall call upon my name;

he shall trample on rulers as on mortar,

as the potter treads clay.

26  ^zWho declared it from the beginning, that we might know,

and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”?

There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,

none who heard your words.

27  ^aI was the first to say² to Zion, “Behold, here they are!”

and ^bI give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

28  ^cBut when I look, there is no one;

among these there is no counselor

who, when I ask, gives an answer.

29  ^dBehold, they are all a delusion;

their works are nothing;

their metal images are empty wind.

1  ^eBehold ^fmy servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, ^gin whom my soul delights;

^hI have put my Spirit upon him;

ⁱhe will bring forth justice to the nations.

2  He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

3  ^ja bruised reed he will not break,

and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

^khe will faithfully bring forth justice.

4  He will not grow faint or be discouraged³

till he has established justice in the earth;

and ^lthe coastlands wait for his law.

5  Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens ^mand stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

ⁿwho gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

6  “I am the Lord; ^oI have called you⁴ in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you ^pas a covenant for the people,

^qa light for the nations,

7  ^rto open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

^sfrom the prison those who sit in darkness.

8  I am the Lord; that is my name;

^tmy glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

9  Behold, the former things have come to pass,

^uand new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.”

10  ^vSing to the Lord a new song,

his praise from the end of the earth,

^wyou who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,

^lthe coastlands and their inhabitants.

11  Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,

the villages that ^xKedar inhabits;

let the habitants of ^ySela sing for joy,

let them shout from the top of the mountains.

12  Let them give glory to the Lord,

and declare his praise in ^lthe coastlands.

13  ^zThe Lord goes out like a mighty man,

like a man of war ^ahe stirs up his zeal;

he cries out, ^bhe shouts aloud,

he shows himself mighty against his foes.

14  For a long time I have held my peace;

I have kept still and restrained myself;

now I will cry out ^clike a woman in labor;

I will gasp and pant.

15  ^dI will lay waste mountains and hills,

and dry up all their vegetation;

I will turn the rivers into islands,⁵

and dry up the pools.

16  ^eAnd I will lead the blind

in a way that they do not know,

in paths that they have not known

I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

^fthe rough places into level ground.

These are the things I do,

and I do not forsake them.

17  ^gThey are turned back and utterly put to shame,

who trust in carved idols,

who say to metal images,

“You are our gods.”

18  Hear, you deaf,

and look, you blind, that you may see!

19  Who is blind but my servant,

or deaf as my messenger whom I send?

Who is blind as my dedicated one,⁶

or blind as the servant of the Lord?

20  ^hHe sees many things, but does not observe them;

ⁱhis ears are open, but he does not hear.

21  The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,

to magnify his law and make it glorious.

22  But this is a people plundered and looted;

they are all of them trapped in holes

^jand hidden in prisons;

they have become plunder with none to rescue,

spoil with none to say, “Restore!”

23  Who among you will give ear to this,

will attend and listen for the time to come?

24  Who gave up Jacob to the looter,

and Israel to the plunderers?

Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,

in whose ways they would not walk,

and whose law they would not obey?

25  So he poured on him the heat of his anger

and the might of battle;

it set him on fire all around, ^kbut he did not understand;

it burned him up, ^lbut he did not take it to heart.

1  But now thus says the Lord,

^mhe who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

ⁿ“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

^oI have called you by name, you are mine.

2  ^pWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

^pwhen you walk through fire ^qyou shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

3  For ^rI am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

^sI give Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and ^tSeba in exchange for you.

4  Because you are precious in my eyes,

and honored, and I love you,

I give men in return for you,

peoples in exchange for your life.

5  ^uFear not, for I am with you;

^vI will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you.

6  I will say to the north, Give up,

and to the south, Do not withhold;

bring ^wmy sons from afar

and ^wmy daughters from the end of the earth,

7  everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.”

8  Bring out ^xthe people who are blind, yet have eyes,

who are deaf, yet have ears!

9  ^yAll the nations gather together,

and the peoples assemble.

Who among them can declare this,

and show us the former things?

Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,

and let them hear and say, It is true.

10  ^z“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“and ^amy servant whom I have chosen,

that you may know and believe me

and understand that I am he.

^bBefore me no god was formed,

nor shall there be any after me.

11  ^cI, I am the Lord,

and besides me there is no savior.

12  I declared and saved and proclaimed,

when there was no strange god among you;

and ^zyou are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.

13  Also ^dhenceforth I am he;

there is none who can deliver from my hand;

I work, and who can turn it back?”

1  May God ^wbe gracious to us and bless us

and make his face to ^xshine upon us, Selah

2  that ^yyour way may be known on earth,

your ^zsaving power among all nations.

3  ^aLet the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you ^bjudge the peoples with equity

and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

5  ^aLet the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

6  The earth has ^cyielded its increase;

God, our God, shall bless us.

7  God shall bless us;

let ^dall the ends of the earth fear him!

29  ^lWho has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has ^mwounds without cause?

Who has ⁿredness of eyes?

30  Those who ^otarry long over wine;

those who go to try ^pmixed wine.

31  Do not look at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

32  In the end it ^qbites like a serpent

and stings like an adder.

33  Your eyes will see strange things,

and your heart utter ^rperverse things.

34  You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,

like one who lies on the top of a mast.¹

35  “They ^sstruck me,” you will say,² “but I was not hurt;

they beat me, but I did not feel it.

When shall I awake?

I ^tmust have another drink.”