15  ^qA continual dripping on a rainy day

and a quarrelsome wife are alike;

16  to restrain her is to restrain the wind

or to grasp¹ oil in one’s right hand.

17  Iron sharpens iron,

and one man sharpens another.²

18  ^rWhoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,

and he who ^sguards his master will be honored.

19  As in water face reflects face,

so the heart of man reflects the man.

20  ^tSheol and Abaddon are ^unever satisfied,

and ^vnever satisfied are the eyes of man.

21  ^wThe crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

and a man is tested by his praise.

22  ^xCrush a fool in a mortar with a pestle

along with crushed grain,

yet his folly will not depart from him.

23  ^yKnow well the condition of your flocks,

and ^ygive attention to your herds,

24  for ^zriches do not last forever;

and does a crown endure to all generations?

25  ^aWhen the grass is gone and the new growth appears

and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,

26  ^bthe lambs will provide your clothing,

and the goats the price of a field.

27  ^bThere will be enough goats’ milk for your food,

for the food of your household

and maintenance for your girls.

1  Listen to me, ^kO coastlands,

and give attention, you peoples ^lfrom afar.

^mThe Lord called me from the womb,

from the body of my mother he named my name.

2  ⁿHe made my mouth like a sharp sword;

^oin the shadow of his hand he hid me;

he made me a polished arrow;

in his quiver he hid me away.

3  And he said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, ^pin whom I will be glorified.”¹

4  ^qBut I said, “I have labored in vain;

I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;

yet surely my right is with the Lord,

and my recompense with my God.”

5  ^rAnd now the Lord says,

he ^mwho formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him;

and that Israel might be gathered to him—

for ^sI am honored in the eyes of the Lord,

and my God has become my strength—

6  he says:

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant

to raise up the tribes of Jacob

and to bring back the preserved of Israel;

^tI will make you ^uas a light for the nations,

that ^vmy salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

7  Thus says the Lord,

^wthe Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

^xto one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,

the servant of rulers:

^y“Kings shall see and arise;

princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;

because of the Lord, who is faithful,

the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

8  Thus says the Lord:

^z“In a ^atime of favor I have answered you;

in a day of salvation I have helped you;

I will keep you ^band give you

as a covenant to the people,

to establish the land,

^cto apportion the desolate heritages,

9  ^dsaying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’

^eThey shall feed along the ways;

on all bare heights shall be their pasture;

10  ^fthey shall not hunger or thirst,

neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,

for he who has pity on them ^gwill lead them,

and by springs of water will guide them.

11  ^hAnd I will make all my mountains a road,

and my highways shall be raised up.

12  ⁱBehold, these shall come from afar,

and behold, ^jthese from the north and from the west,²

and these from the land of Syene.”³

13  ^kSing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

break forth, O mountains, into singing!

For the Lord ^lhas comforted his people

and will have compassion on his afflicted.

14  But Zion said, ^m“The Lord has forsaken me;

my Lord has forgotten me.”

15  ⁿ“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Even these may forget,

yet I will not forget you.

16  Behold, ^oI have engraved you on the palms of my hands;

your walls are continually before me.

17  Your builders make haste;⁴

^pyour destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.

18  ^qLift up your eyes around and see;

they all gather, they come to you.

^rAs I live, declares the Lord,

^syou shall put them all on as an ornament;

you shall bind them on as a bride does.

19  “Surely your waste and your desolate places

and your devastated land—

^tsurely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,

and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

20  ^uThe children of your bereavement

will yet say in your ears:

^t‘The place is too narrow for me;

make room for me to dwell in.’

21  Then you will say in your heart:

‘Who has borne me these?

^uI was bereaved and barren,

exiled and put away,

but who has brought up these?

Behold, I was left alone;

from where have these come?’”

22  Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,

^vand raise my signal to the peoples;

^wand they shall bring your sons in their arms,⁵

and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

23  ^xKings shall be your foster fathers,

and their queens your nursing mothers.

^yWith their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,

and ^zlick the dust of your feet.

Then you will know that I am the Lord;

^athose who wait for me ^bshall not be put to shame.”

24  Can the prey be taken from the mighty,

or the captives of a tyrant⁶ be rescued?

25  For thus says the Lord:

^c“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,

and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,

for I will contend with those who contend with you,

and I will save your children.

26  ^dI will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,

and they shall be drunk ^ewith their own blood as with wine.

Then all flesh shall know

that ^fI am the Lord your Savior,

and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

1  Thus says the Lord:

“Where is ^gyour mother’s certificate of divorce,

with which ^hI sent her away?

Or ⁱwhich of my creditors is it

to whom I have sold you?

^jBehold, for your iniquities you were sold,

and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

2  ^kWhy, when I came, was there no man;

why, when I called, was there no one to answer?

^lIs my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?

Or have I no power to deliver?

^mBehold, by my rebuke ⁿI dry up the sea,

^oI make the rivers a desert;

^ptheir fish stink for lack of water

and die of thirst.

3  ^qI clothe the heavens with blackness

and make sackcloth their covering.”

4  The Lord God has given ^rme

the tongue of those who are taught,

that ^sI may know how to sustain with a word

^thim who is weary.

Morning by morning he awakens;

he awakens my ear

to hear as those who are taught.

5  ^uThe Lord God has opened my ear,

^vand I was not rebellious;

I turned not backward.

6  ^wI gave my back to those who strike,

and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;

I hid not my face

from disgrace and spitting.

7  But the Lord God helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

^xtherefore I have set my face like a flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

8  ^yHe who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who is my adversary?

Let him come near to me.

9  ^zBehold, the Lord God helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;

the moth will eat them up.

10  Who among you fears the Lord

and obeys ^athe voice of his servant?

^bLet him who walks in darkness

and has no light

trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God.

11  Behold, all you who kindle a fire,

who equip yourselves with burning torches!

Walk by the light of your fire,

and by the torches that you have kindled!

^cThis you have from my hand:

you shall lie down in torment.