1  Like snow in summer or ^urain in harvest,

so ^vhonor is ^wnot fitting for a fool.

2  Like ^xa sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,

^ya curse that is causeless does not alight.

3  ^zA whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,

and ^aa rod for the back of fools.

4  ^bAnswer not a fool according to his folly,

lest you be like him yourself.

5  ^cAnswer a fool according to his folly,

lest he be ^dwise in his own eyes.

6  Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool

cuts off his own feet and ^edrinks violence.

7  Like a lame man’s legs, which hang useless,

is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

8  Like one who binds the stone in the sling

is ^fone who gives honor to a fool.

9  Like ^ga thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard

is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

10  Like an archer who wounds everyone

is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.¹

11  Like ^ha dog that returns to his vomit

is ⁱa fool who repeats his folly.

12  Do you see a man who is ^jwise in his own eyes?

^kThere is more hope for a fool than for him.

13  ^lThe sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!

There is a lion in the streets!”

14  As a door turns on its hinges,

so does a sluggard on his bed.

15  ^mThe sluggard buries his hand in the dish;

it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.

16  The sluggard is ^jwiser in his own eyes

ⁿthan seven men who can answer sensibly.

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 discouraged¹

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 you² 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,³

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,⁴

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.