1 In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong dsword will punish eLeviathan the fleeing serpent, eLeviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay fthe dragon that is in the sea.
2 In that day,
g“A pleasant vineyard,1 hsing of it!
3 I, the Lord, am its keeper;
every moment I water it.
Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
4 I have no wrath.
iWould that I had thorns and briers to battle!
I would march against them,
I would burn them up together.
5 Or let them lay hold of my protection,
let them make peace with me,
let them make peace with me.”
6 jIn days to come2 Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
and fill the whole world with fruit.
7 kHas he struck them las he struck those who struck them?
Or have they been slain mas their slayers were slain?
8 nMeasure by measure,3 by exile you contended with them;
ohe removed them with his fierce breath4 in the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore by this pthe guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:5
qwhen he makes all the stones of the altars
like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
no rAsherim or incense altars will remain standing.
10 sFor the fortified city is solitary,
a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
there the calf grazes;
there it lies down and strips its branches.
11 When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
women come and make a fire of them.
tFor this is a people without discernment;
therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
he who formed them will show them no favor.
12 In that day ufrom the river Euphrates6 to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. 13 And in that day va great trumpet will be blown, wand those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt xwill come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
1 Ah, the proud crown of ythe drunkards of Ephraim,
and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has zone who is mighty and strong;
like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
like aa storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
he casts down to the earth with his hand.
3 bThe proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim
will be trodden underfoot;
4 cand the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley,
will be like da first-ripe fig7 before the summer:
when someone sees it, he swallows it
as soon as it is in his hand.
5 eIn that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory,8
and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
6 and fa spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
and gstrength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 hThese also reel with wine
and istagger with strong drink;
the priest and jthe prophet reel with strong drink,
they are swallowed by9 wine,
they stagger with strong drink,
they reel in vision,
they stumble in giving judgment.
8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
with no space left.
9 k“To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
those taken from the breast?
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”
11 lFor by people of strange lips
and with a foreign tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said,
m“This is rest;
give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
yet they would not hear.
13 And the word of the Lord will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little,
nthat they may go, and fall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you oscoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the poverwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made qlies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
r“Behold, I am the one who has laid10 as a foundation sin Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice tthe line,
and righteousness tthe plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then uyour covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you;
vfor morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be wsheer terror to understand the message.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up xas on Mount Perazim;
yas in the Valley of zGibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
22 Now therefore do not ascoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard ba decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.
23 Give ear, and hear my voice;
give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25 cWhen he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place,
and emmer11 as the border?
26 dFor he is rightly instructed;
his God teaches him.
27 Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Does one crush grain for bread?
No, he does not thresh it forever;12
when he drives his cart wheel over it
with his horses, he does not crush it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
he is ewonderful in counsel
and excellent in wisdom.
1 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city fwhere David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.13
3 gAnd I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you hwith towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 iAnd you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like jthe voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like ksmall dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
lAnd in an instant, suddenly,
6 myou will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And nthe multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be olike a dream, a vision of the night.
8 pAs when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves14 and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk,15 but not with wine;
rstagger,16 but not with strong drink!
10 sFor the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is tsealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
13 And the Lord said:
“Because uthis people vdraw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, wI will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and xthe wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15 Ah, yyou who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are zin the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 aYou turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
buntil Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day cthe deaf shall hear
dthe words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
ethe eyes of the blind shall see.
19 fThe meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and gthe scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and hlay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea iturn aside him who is in the right.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, jwho redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
kthe work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
lthey will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those mwho go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
1 “Ah, nstubborn children,” declares the Lord,
o“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make pan alliance,17 but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 qwho set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 rTherefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
4 For though his officials are at sZoan
5 everyone comes to shame
through va people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”
6 An woracle on xthe beasts of ythe Negeb.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
from where come the lioness and the lion,
the adder and the zflying fiery serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people that cannot profit them.
7 Egypt’s ahelp is worthless and empty;
therefore I have called her
b“Rahab who sits still.”
8 And now, go, cwrite it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever.18
9 dFor they are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the Lord;
10 ewho say to fthe seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us gsmooth things,
prophesy illusions,
11 leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word
and trust in hoppression and perverseness
and rely on them,
13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you
ilike a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
14 and its breaking is jlike that of a potter’s vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found
with which to take fire from the hearth,
or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In kreturning19 and lrest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, 16 and you said,
“No! We will flee upon mhorses”;
therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
17 nA thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you shall flee,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
like a signal on a hill.
18 Therefore the Lord owaits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he pexalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
qblessed are all those who wait for him.
19 For a people shall dwell rin Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the sbread of adversity and the swater of affliction, tyet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 uAnd your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is vthe way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. wYou will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”
23 xAnd he will give yrain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. zIn that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and athe oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And bon every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, cwhen the towers fall. 26 dMoreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when ethe Lord binds up fthe brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;20
his lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 ghis breath is hlike an overflowing stream
that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
and to place on the jaws of the peoples ia bridle that leads astray.
29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, jas when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to kthe mountain of the Lord, to lthe Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord mwill cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger nand a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst oand storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, pwhen he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them qwill be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. rBattling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For sa burning place21 has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, tits pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; uthe breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
1 Woe22 to vthose who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who wtrust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but xdo not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
2 And yyet he is wise and brings disaster;
zhe does not call back his words,
but awill arise against the house of the evildoers
and against the helpers of bthose who work iniquity.
3 The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses care flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
4 For thus the Lord said to me,
d“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
he is not terrified by their shouting
or daunted at their noise,
eso the Lord of hosts will come down
to fight23 on Mount Zion and on its hill.
5 fLike birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
he will spare and rescue it.”
6 gTurn to him from whom people24 have hdeeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day ieveryone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.
8 j“And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;
and he shall flee from the sword,
and his young men shall be kput to forced labor.
9 lHis rock shall pass away in terror,
and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
declares the Lord, whose mfire is in Zion,
and whose nfurnace is in Jerusalem.
1 Behold, oa king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
2 pEach will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a shelter from the storm,
qlike streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
3 rThen the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
sand the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
5 tThe fool will no more be called noble,
nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.
6 For uthe fool speaks folly,
and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practice ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
vto leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
7 As for the scoundrel—whis devices are evil;
he plans wicked schemes
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
8 But he who is noble plans noble things,
and on noble things he stands.
9 xRise up, you women ywho are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
10 In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the grape harvest fails,
the fruit harvest will not come.
11 Tremble, you women ywho are at ease,
shudder, you complacent ones;
zstrip, and make yourselves bare,
aand tie sackcloth around your waist.
12 bBeat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
13 cfor the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers,
dyes, for all the joyous houses
in the exultant city.
14 For the palace is forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens forever,
ea joy of wild donkeys,
a pasture of flocks;
15 until fthe Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and gthe wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
17 hAnd the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust25 forever.
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
19 iAnd it will hail when the forest falls down,
jand the city will be utterly laid low.
20 kHappy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
1 lAh, you destroyer,
who yourself have not been destroyed,
you traitor,
whom none has betrayed!
When you have ceased to destroy,
you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.
2 O Lord, be gracious to us; mwe wait for you.
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 nAt the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
oas locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
5 pThe Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 qand he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is Zion’s26 treasure.
7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
rthe envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 sThe highways lie waste;
the traveler ceases.
tCovenants are broken;
cities27 are despised;
there is no regard for man.
9 uThe land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 v“Now I will arise,” says the Lord,
“now I will lift myself up;
now I will be exalted.
11 wYou conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
your breath is xa fire that will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
xlike thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”
13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
y“Who among us can dwell zwith the consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 aHe who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
band shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16 he will dwell on the heights;
his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
chis bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
17 dYour eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
ethey will see a land that stretches afar.
18 fYour heart will muse on the terror:
“Where is he who counted, where is ghe who weighed the tribute?
Where is hhe who counted the towers?”
19 iYou will see no more the insolent people,
the people jof an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
kYour eyes will see Jerusalem,
an untroubled habitation, an limmovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
a place of mbroad rivers and streams,
nwhere no galley with oars can go,
nor majestic ship can pass.
22 For the Lord is our ojudge; the Lord is our plawgiver;
the Lord is our qking; he will save us.
23 Your cords hang loose;
they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
or keep the sail spread out.
rThen prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
even sthe lame will take the prey.
24 And no inhabitant will say, t“I am sick”;
uthe people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
1 Draw near, vO nations, to hear,
and give attention, O peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
the world, and all that comes from it.
2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations,
and furious against all their host;
he has wdevoted them to destruction,28 has given them over for slaughter.
3 Their slain shall be cast out,
and xthe stench of their corpses shall rise;
ythe mountains shall flow with their blood.
4 zAll the host of heaven shall rot away,
and the skies roll up like a scroll.
All their host shall fall,
as leaves fall from the vine,
like leaves falling from the fig tree.
5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
behold, it descends for judgment upon aEdom,
upon the people bI have devoted to destruction.
6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood;
it is gorged with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
cFor the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 dWild oxen shall efall with them,
and fyoung steers with fthe mighty bulls.
Their land shall drink its fill of blood,
and their soil shall be gorged with fat.
8 gFor the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
9 hAnd the streams of Edom29 shall be turned into pitch,
and her soil into sulfur;
her land shall become burning pitch.
10 Night and day iit shall not be quenched;
jits smoke shall go up forever.
kFrom generation to generation it shall lie waste;
none shall pass through it forever and ever.
11 lBut the hawk and the porcupine30 shall possess it,
the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
mHe shall stretch the line of nconfusion31 over it,
and the plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,
and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 oThorns shall grow over its strongholds,
nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
It shall be the haunt of pjackals,
an abode for ostriches.32
14 qAnd wild animals shall meet with hyenas;
the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;
indeed, there the night bird33 settles
and finds for herself a resting place.
15 There the owl nests and lays
and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;
indeed, there rthe hawks are gathered,
each one with her mate.
16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord:
Not one of these shall be missing;
none shall be without her mate.
For the mouth of the Lord has commanded,
and his Spirit has gathered them.
17 sHe has cast the lot for them;
his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;
they shall possess it forever;
from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.
1 tThe wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
uthe desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
2 it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
vThe glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of wCarmel and xSharon.
yThey shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
3 zStrengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
aBehold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”
5 bThen the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 bthen shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
cFor waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7 dthe burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of ejackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
8 fAnd a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
gthe unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.34
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 hAnd the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
ieverlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
1 jIn the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, kSennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 lAnd the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh35 from mLachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood nby the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 3 And there came out to him oEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and oShebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the pgreat king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6 qBehold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he rwhose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9 How then can you repulse sa single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when tyou trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? uThe Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants vin Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: w‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me36 and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17 until xI come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 yWhere are the gods of zHamath and zArpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? aHave they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 bWho among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”
21 But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” 22 cThen Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
1 dAs soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet eIsaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a fday of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; gchildren have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 hIt may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for ithe remnant that is left.’”
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, jI will put a spirit in him, so that khe shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and lI will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against mLibnah, for he had heard that the king had left mLachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of nCush,37 “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: o‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 pHave the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, qGozan, rHaran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 pWhere is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, senthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; tyou have made heaven and earth. 17 uIncline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear vall the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O Lord, wthe kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“‘She despises you, she scorns you—
xthe virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
23 “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against ythe Holy One of Israel!
24 By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, zWith my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon,
ato cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses,
to come to its remotest height,
its most fruitful forest.
25 I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
26 d“‘Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted38 before it is grown.
28 “‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29 eBecause you have raged against me
and your complacency has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and fI will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’
30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah gshall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 hFor out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. iThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
33 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or jcast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 kFor I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for lthe sake of my servant David.”
36 mAnd the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at nNineveh. 38 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of oArarat, pEsarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
1 qIn those days Hezekiah became rsick and was at the point of death. And sIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”39 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how tI have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add ufifteen years to your life.40 6 vI will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.
7 “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: 8 wBehold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.41
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said, xIn the middle42 of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord,
the Lord yin the land of the living;
I shall look on man no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
zlike a shepherd’s tent;
alike a weaver bI have rolled up my life;
che cuts me off from the loom;
dfrom day to night you bring me to an end;
13 eI calmed myself43 until morning;
like a lion fhe breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
14 Like ga swallow or a crane I chirp;
hI moan like a dove.
iMy eyes are weary with looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; jbe my pledge of safety!
15 What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
kI walk slowly all my years
because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 lO Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these is the life of my spirit.
Oh restore me to health and make me live!
17 mBehold, it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
nbut in love you have delivered my life
from the pit of destruction,
nfor you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
18 oFor Sheol does not thank you;
death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
as I do this day;
pthe father makes known to the children
your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,
and we will play my music on stringed instruments
all the days of our lives,
qat the house of the Lord.
21 rNow Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
1 sAt that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, tsent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, uthe silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. vThere was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 wBehold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 xAnd some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, y“There will be peace and security in my days.”
1 zComfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 aSpeak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
d“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
emake straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 fEvery valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 gAnd the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
hfor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said,46 “What shall I cry?”
iAll flesh is grass,
and all its beauty47 is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 jThe grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, kherald of good news;48
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;49
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 lBehold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
mbehold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 nHe will tend his flock like a shepherd;
ohe will gather the lambs in his arms;
phe will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
12 qWho has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 rWho has measured50 the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
sWho taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted tas the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up uthe coastlands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are vits beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 wAll the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
18 xTo whom then will you liken God,
yor what likeness compare with him?
19 yAn idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
20 zHe who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood51 that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
21 aDo you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are blike grasshoppers;
cwho stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
23 dwho brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
eand the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25 fTo whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
gHe who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
and because he is strong in power,
not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
h“My way is hidden from the Lord,
iand my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is jthe everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
khis understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but lthey who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings mlike eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
1 nListen to me in silence, oO coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak;
let us together draw near for judgment.
2 pWho stirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every qstep?52
rHe gives up nations before him,
so that he tramples kings underfoot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
slike driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes on safely,
by paths his feet have not trod.
4 tWho has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
uI, the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am he.
5 vThe coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
6 Everyone helps his neighbor
and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 wThe craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they strengthen it with nails xso that it cannot be moved.
8 But you, Israel, ymy servant,
Jacob, zwhom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, amy friend;
9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called bfrom its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are ymy servant,
zI have chosen you and not cast you off”;
10 fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with cmy righteous right hand.
11 dBehold, all who are incensed against you
shall be put to shame and confounded;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.
12 eYou shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
fthose who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.
13 For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I am the one who helps you.”
14 Fear not, you gworm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord;
your hRedeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 iBehold, I make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh jthe mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
16 kyou shall winnow them, and lthe wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
mAnd you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
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.53
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 say54 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 discouraged55
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 you56 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,57
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,58
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?”
14 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
e“For your sake I send to Babylon
and fbring them all down as fugitives,
geven the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.”
16 Thus says the Lord,
hwho makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
17 who ibrings forth chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
jthey are extinguished, kquenched like a wick:
18 l“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
19 mBehold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
nI will make a way in the wilderness
oand rivers in the desert.
20 The wild beasts will honor me,
pthe jackals and the ostriches,
qfor I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself
rthat they might declare my praise.
22 “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but syou have been weary of me, O Israel!
23 tYou have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
sor wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25 “I, I am he
uwho blots out vyour transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance; wlet us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
27 xYour first father sinned,
and yyour mediators transgressed against me.
28 Therefore zI will profane the princes of the sanctuary,
and adeliver Jacob to utter destruction
and Israel to reviling.
1 “But now hear, bO Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
cwho formed you from the womb and will help you:
dFear not, O Jacob my servant,
eJeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 fFor I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They shall spring up among the grass
glike willows by flowing streams.
5 hThis one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s,’
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and name himself by the name of Israel.”
6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and ihis Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
j“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
7 kWho is like me? Let him proclaim it.59
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
8 Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
lAnd you are my witnesses!
mIs there a God besides me?
There is no nRock; I know not any.”
9 oAll who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 pWho fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 qBehold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
12 pThe ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.60 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. rHe shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 sHe cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. tHe prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an uabomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 vHe feeds on washes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not xa lie in my right hand?”
21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are ymy servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
zO Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
22 aI have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.
23 bSing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
shout, O cdepths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
24 Thus says the Lord, eyour Redeemer,
fwho formed you from the womb:
g“I am the Lord, who made all things,
hwho alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
25 who frustrates the signs of liars
and makes fools of diviners,
iwho turns wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish,
26 jwho confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
kand of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
and I will raise up their ruins’;
27 lwho says to the deep, ‘Be dry;
I will dry up your rivers’;
28 who says of mCyrus, ‘He is nmy shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
oand of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”
1 Thus says the Lord to phis anointed, to Cyrus,
qwhose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and rto loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
2 “I will go before you
and slevel the exalted places,62
tI will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
3 uI will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, vwho call you by your name.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
vI call you by your name,
wI name you, though you do not know me.
5 xI am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
yI equip you, though you do not know me,
6 zthat people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and acreate calamity;
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
8 b“Shower, O heavens, from above,
and clet the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
let the earth cause them both to sprout;
I the Lord have created it.
9 d“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
a pot among earthen pots!
eDoes the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
or ‘Your work has no handles’?
10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
11 Thus says fthe Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
g“Ask me of things to come;
will you command me hconcerning my children and ithe work of my hands?63
12 jI made the earth
and created man on it;
it was my hands kthat stretched out the heavens,
and lI commanded all their host.
13 mI have stirred him up in righteousness,
nand I will make all his ways level;
ohe shall build my city
pand set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,”
says the Lord of hosts.
14 Thus says the Lord:
q“The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
and the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over to you rand be yours;
they shall follow you;
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will plead with you, saying:
‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
no god besides him.’”
15 sTruly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.
16 tAll of them are put to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in confusion together.
17 But Israel is saved by the Lord
with everlasting salvation;
uyou shall not be put to shame or confounded
to all eternity.
18 vFor thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he wdid not create it empty,
xhe formed it to be inhabited!):
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 yI did not speak in secret,
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
I the Lord speak athe truth;
I declare what is right.
20 b“Assemble yourselves and come;
draw near together,
you survivors of the nations!
cThey have no knowledge
who dcarry about their wooden idols,
eand keep on praying to a god
that cannot save.
21 fDeclare and present your case;
let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God gand a Savior;
there is none besides me.
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
hall the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 iBy myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in jrighteousness
a word that shall not return:
k‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’65
24 l“Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and mstrength;
to him shall come and be ashamed
nall who were incensed against him.
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall be justified and shall glory.”
1 oBel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
as burdens on weary beasts.
2 They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden,
but pthemselves go into captivity.
3 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
qwho have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
4 reven to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.
5 s“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
6 tThose who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
uthen they fall down and worship!
7 vThey lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
wit cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.
8 “Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, xyou transgressors,
9 remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 ydeclaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, z‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
11 acalling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
bI have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.
12 “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from righteousness:
13 cI bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not delay;
dI will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.”
1 eCome down and sit in the dust,
O virgin fdaughter of Babylon;
gsit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of hthe Chaldeans!
iFor you shall no more be called
tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones and jgrind flour,
kput off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
pass through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your disgrace shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one.
4 lOur Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.
5 mSit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of hthe Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called
nthe mistress of kingdoms.
6 oI was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
pyou showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
7 You said, “I shall be qmistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.
8 Now therefore hear this, qyou lover of pleasures,
rwho sit securely,
who say in your heart,
s“I am, and there is no one besides me;
tI shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”:
9 uThese two things shall come to you
in a moment, vin one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
win spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.
10 You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
x“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
11 But evil shall come upon you,
which you will not know how to charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
for which you will not be able to atone;
yand ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.
12 zStand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.
13 You are wearied with your many counsels;
let them stand forth and save you,
athose who divide the heavens,
who gaze at the stars,
who at the new moons make known
what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, bthey are like stubble;
cthe fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!
15 Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have done business with you from your youth;
they wander about, each in his own direction;
there is no one to save you.
1 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
dwho are called by the name of Israel,
and ewho came from the waters of Judah,
fwho swear by the name of the Lord
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.
2 For they call themselves after the holy city,
gand stay themselves on the God of Israel;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
3 “The former things hI declared of old;
they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;
then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 Because I know that iyou are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead brass,
5 hI declared them to you from of old,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
lest you should say, j‘My idol did them,
my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
6 “You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forth kI announce to you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.
7 They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 You have never heard, you have never known,
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,
and that lfrom before birth you were called a rebel.
9 m“For my name’s sake I defer my anger;
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, nbut not as silver;
oI have tried66 you in the furnace of affliction.
11 pFor my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name67 be profaned?
qMy glory I will not give to another.
12 “Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he; rI am the first,
and I am the last.
13 My hand slaid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand sspread out the heavens;
twhen I call to them,
they stand forth together.
14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen!
uWho among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;
vhe shall perform his purpose on Babylon,
and his arm shall be against wthe Chaldeans.
15 xI, even I, have spoken and called him;
I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
16 yDraw near to me, hear this:
from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
from the time it came to be I have been there.”
And now zthe Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.
17 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 aOh that you had paid attention to my commandments!
bThen your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
19 cyour offspring would have been like the sand,
and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before me.”
20 dGo out from Babylon, flee from eChaldea,
declare this fwith a shout of joy, proclaim it,
send it out to the end of the earth;
say, g“The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21 hThey did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
ihe made water flow for them from the rock;
he split the rock and the water gushed out.
22 j“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
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