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,1
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?2
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.’4
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 tried5 you in the furnace of affliction.
11 pFor my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name6 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.”
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.”7
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,8
and these from the land of Syene.”9
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;10
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,11
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;
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant12 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.
1 d“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for ehe was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the Lord fcomforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like gEden,
her desert like hthe garden of the Lord;
ijoy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 j“Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
kfor a law13 will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 lMy righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
mthe coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 nLift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
ofor the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;14
pbut my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
7 q“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people rin whose heart is my law;
sfear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 tFor the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool,
pbut my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations.”
9 uAwake, awake, vput on strength,
O warm of the Lord;
awake, xas in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut yRahab in pieces,
who pierced zthe dragon?
10 aWas it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
11 bAnd the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12 “I, I am he cwho comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of dman who dies,
of the son of man who is made elike grass,
13 and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
fwho stretched out the heavens
and glaid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of hthe oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of hthe oppressor?
14 iHe who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down jto the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15 I am the Lord your God,
kwho stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name.
16 lAnd I have put my words in your mouth
mand covered you in the shadow of my hand,
and olaying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17 pWake yourself, wake yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
qyou who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl, rthe cup of staggering.
18 sThere is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
19 tThese two things have happened to you—
who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?16
20 uYour sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
21 xTherefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
your God ywho pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand rthe cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23 zand I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
awho have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and byou have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over.”
1 cAwake, awake,
put on your strength, O Zion;
dput on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, ethe holy city;
ffor there shall no more come into you
the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 gShake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem;
hloose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says the Lord: i“You were sold for nothing, and jyou shall be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord God: k“My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.17 5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and lcontinually all the day my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. mTherefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”
7 nHow beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, owho brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
8 The voice of pyour watchmen—they lift up their voice;
together they sing for joy;
qfor eye to eye they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
9 rBreak forth together into singing,
syou waste places of Jerusalem,
for tthe Lord has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 uThe Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
vand all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
11 wDepart, depart, go out from there;
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
xyou who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you shall not ygo out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
zfor the Lord will go before you,
aand the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
13 Behold, bmy servant shall act wisely;18
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
chis appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so dshall he sprinkle19 many nations.
eKings shall shut their mouths because of him,
ffor that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
1 gWho has believed what he has heard from us?20
And to whom has hthe arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
iand like a root out of dry ground;
jhe had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 kHe was despised and rejected21 by men,
a man of sorrows22 and acquainted with23 grief;24
and as one from whom men hide their faces25
he was despised, and lwe esteemed him not.
4 mSurely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
nsmitten by God, and afflicted.
5 oBut he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
pand with his wounds we are healed.
6 qAll we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
rand the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
syet he opened not his mouth;
tlike a ulamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, vwho considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
wand with a rich man in his death,
although xhe had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet yit was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;26
zwhen his soul makes27 an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
athe will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see28 and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall bthe righteous one, my servant,
cmake many to be accounted righteous,
dand he shall bear their iniquities.
12 eTherefore I will divide him a portion with the many,29
fand he shall divide the spoil with the strong,30
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
gyet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
1 h“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
break forth into singing and cry aloud,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of ithe desolate one jwill be more
than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.
2 k“Enlarge the place of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
3 lFor you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
and your offspring will possess the nations
and will people the desolate cities.
4 “Fear not, mfor you will not be ashamed;
be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5 nFor your Maker is your husband,
the Lord of hosts is his name;
oand the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
pthe God of the whole earth he is called.
6 qFor the Lord has called you
like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
7 rFor a brief moment I deserted you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
8 rIn overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
sbut with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9 “This is like tthe days of Noah31 to me:
as I swore that the waters of Noah
should no more go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,
and will not rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and umy covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
11 v“O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,
behold, wI will set your stones in antimony,
xand lay your foundations with sapphires.32
12 I will make your pinnacles of agate,33
your gates of carbuncles,34
and all your wall of precious stones.
13 yAll your children zshall be taught by the Lord,
aand great shall be the peace of your children.
14 In righteousness you shall be established;
you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15 bIf anyone stirs up strife,
it is not from me;
whoever stirs up strife with you
shall fall because of you.
16 Behold, I have created the smith
who blows the fire of coals
and produces a weapon for its purpose.
I have also created the ravager to destroy;
17 no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
1 d“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
ecome, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 fWhy do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
ghear, that your soul may live;
hand I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
imy steadfast, sure love for jDavid.
4 kBehold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
la leader and commander for the peoples.
5 kBehold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and ma nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
nfor he has glorified you.
6 o“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 pFor as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 q“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
rgiving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but sit shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 t“For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
uthe mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 vInstead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
1 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
wfor soon my salvation will come,
and my righteousness be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man who does this,
and the son of man who holds it fast,
xwho keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
3 Let not ythe foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
“Behold, I am za dry tree.”
4 For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs xwho keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
5 aI will give in my house and within my walls
a bmonument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
cI will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.
6 “And ythe foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
everyone xwho keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
7 dthese I will bring to emy holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
ftheir burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for gmy house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.”
8 The Lord God,
hwho gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
i“I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.”
9 jAll you beasts of the field, come to devour—
all you beasts in the forest.
10 kHis watchmen are blind;
they are all without knowledge;
they are all silent ldogs;
they cannot bark,
dreaming, lying down,
loving to slumber.
11 mThe dogs have a mighty appetite;
they never have enough.
But nthey are shepherds who have no understanding;
they have all turned to their own way,
oeach to his own gain, one and all.
12 p“Come,” they say, “let me get wine;
let us fill ourselves with strong drink;
qand tomorrow will be like this day,
great beyond measure.”
1 The righteous man perishes,
and no one lays it to heart;
rdevout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
2 she enters into peace;
they rest tin their beds
who walk in their uprightness.
3 But you, draw near,
sons of the sorceress,
uoffspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom vdo you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of wtransgression,
xthe offspring of deceit,
5 you who burn with lust among ythe oaks,36
under every green tree,
zwho slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
6 Among the smooth stones of athe valley is your portion;
they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
you have brought a grain offering.
Shall I relent for these things?
7 bOn a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your memorial;
for, deserting me, cyou have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
dyou have made it wide;
and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
you have loved their bed,
you have looked on nakedness.37
9 You journeyed to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
eyou sent your envoys far off,
and sent down even to Sheol.
10 You were wearied with the length of your way,
fbut you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
and so you were not faint.38
11 gWhom did you dread and fear,
hso that you lied,
and did not remember me,
did not lay it to heart?
iHave I not held my peace, even for a long time,
and you do not fear me?
12 I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
but they will not profit you.
13 jWhen you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them all off,
a breath will take them away.
kBut he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land
and shall inherit lmy holy mountain.
14 And it shall be said,
m“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
15 For thus says nthe One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is oHoly:
p“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also qwith him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
rto revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16 sFor I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
17 Because of the iniquity of his tunjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
18 I have seen his ways, ubut I will heal him;
I will lead him vand restore comfort to him and his mourners,
19 wcreating xthe fruit of the lips.
yPeace, peace, zto the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
u“and I will heal him.
20 aBut the wicked are like the tossing sea;
for it cannot be quiet,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
21 bThere is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
clift up your voice like a trumpet;
ddeclare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 eYet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God.
3 f‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,39
gand oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 hIs such the fast that I choose,
ia day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
jto loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps kof the yoke,
to let the oppressed40 go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not lto share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
mand not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 nThen shall your light break forth like the dawn,
oand your healing shall spring up speedily;
pyour righteousness shall go before you;
qthe glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away rthe yoke from your midst,
sthe pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 tif you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
nthen shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be ulike a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
12 vAnd your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
13 w“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure41 on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking xyour own pleasure,42 or talking idly;43
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
yand I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;44
zI will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
afor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
1 Behold, bthe Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 cbut your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 dFor your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 eNo one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
fthey conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs;
they weave the spider’s web;
he who eats their eggs dies,
and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
6 gTheir webs will not serve as clothing;
men will not cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.
7 hTheir feet run to evil,
and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
desolation and destruction are in their highways.
8 The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
ino one who treads on them knows peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
jwe hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 kWe grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
lamong those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11 We all growl like bears;
mwe moan and moan like doves;
nwe hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13 transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
ospeaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
14 pJustice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him45
that there was no justice.
16 qHe saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
17 rHe put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in szeal as a cloak.
18 tAccording to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
uto the coastlands he will render repayment.
19 vSo they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
wfor he will come like a rushing stream,46
which the wind of the Lord drives.
20 x“And ya Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.
21 “And as for me, zthis is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, aand my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”
1 bArise, shine, for your light has come,
and cthe glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
3 dAnd nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 eLift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
fyour sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
5 Then you shall see and gbe radiant;
your heart shall thrill and exult,47
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
hthe wealth of the nations shall come to you.
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of iMidian and jEphah;
all those from kSheba shall come.
lThey shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.
7 All the flocks of mKedar shall be gathered to you;
the rams of nNebaioth shall minister to you;
othey shall come up with acceptance on my altar,
pand I will beautify my beautiful house.
8 Who are these that fly like a cloud,
and qlike doves to their windows?
9 For rthe coastlands shall hope for me,
sthe ships of Tarshish first,
tto bring your children from afar,
their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God,
and for the Holy One of Israel,
because uhe has made you beautiful.
10 vForeigners shall build up your walls,
and vtheir kings shall minister to you;
for in my wrath I struck you,
but in my favor I have had mercy on you.
11 wYour gates shall be open continually;
day and night they shall not be shut,
wthat people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,
with their kings led in procession.
12 xFor the nation and kingdom
that will not serve you shall perish;
those nations shall be utterly laid waste.
13 yThe glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
the cypress, the plane, and zthe pine,
to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
14 aThe sons of those who afflicted you
shall come bending low to you,
band all who despised you
shall bow down at your feet;
cthey shall call you the City of the Lord,
the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
15 dWhereas you have been forsaken and hated,
with no one passing through,
eI will make you majestic forever,
a joy from age to age.
16 fYou shall suck the milk of nations;
you shall nurse at the breast of kings;
and you shall know that gI, the Lord, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, hthe Mighty One of Jacob.
17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
and instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze,
instead of stones, iron.
I will make your overseers peace
iand your taskmasters righteousness.
18 jViolence shall no more be heard in your land,
devastation or destruction within your borders;
kyou shall call your walls Salvation,
and your gates Praise.
19 lThe sun shall be no more
your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
give you light;48
but the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.49
20 Your sun shall no more go down,
nor your moon withdraw itself;
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and myour days of mourning shall be ended.
21 nYour people shall all be righteous;
othey shall possess the land forever,
pthe branch of my planting, the work of my hands,
that I might be glorified.50
22 qThe least one shall become a clan,
and the smallest one a mighty nation;
rI am the Lord;
in its time I will hasten it.
1 sThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has tanointed me
to bring good news to the poor;51
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and uthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;52
2 vto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
wand the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
xto give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
ythe oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
zthat they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, athat he may be glorified.53
4 bThey shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
5 cStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
6 dbut you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
eyou shall eat the wealth of the nations,
and in their glory you shall boast.
7 fInstead of your shame there shall be a double portion;
instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
they shall have everlasting joy.
8 gFor I the Lord love justice;
I hate robbery and wrong;54
hI will faithfully give them their recompense,
iand I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.
10 jI will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
kfor he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself llike a priest with a beautiful headdress,
mand as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause nrighteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.
1 oFor Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
puntil her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
and her salvation as a burning torch.
2 qThe nations shall see your righteousness,
and all the kings your glory,
rand you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
3 You shall be sa crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 tYou shall no more be termed uForsaken,55
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,56
rbut you shall be called vMy Delight Is in Her,57
and your land Married;58
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a young woman,
so wshall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so xshall your God rejoice over you.
6 On your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have set ywatchmen;
all the day and all the night
they shall never be silent.
You who put the Lord in remembrance,
take no rest,
7 and give him no rest
until he establishes Jerusalem
and makes it za praise in the earth.
8 The Lord has sworn aby his right hand
and by his mighty arm:
“I will not again give byour grain
to be food for your enemies,
cand foreigners shall not drink your wine
for which you have labored;
9 but dthose who garner it shall eat it
and praise the Lord,
and dthose who gather it shall drink it
in the courts of my sanctuary.”59
10 Go through, go through the gates;
eprepare the way for the people;
fbuild up, build up the highway;
clear it of stones;
glift up a signal over the peoples.
11 Behold, the Lord has proclaimed
to the end of the earth:
hSay to the daughter of Zion,
i“Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.”
12 jAnd they shall be called The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord;
kand you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.
1 Who is this who comes from lEdom,
in crimsoned garments from lBozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
mmarching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.”
2 Why is your napparel red,
and your garments like his owho treads in the winepress?
3 p“I have trodden the winepress alone,
qand from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood60 spattered on my garments,
and stained all my apparel.
4 rFor the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and my year of redemption61 had come.
5 I looked, but sthere was no one to help;
I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
and my wrath upheld me.
6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
tI made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
7 I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,
the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord has granted us,
uand the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely.”
And he became their Savior.
9 vIn all their affliction he was afflicted,62
and the angel of his presence saved them;
win his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
xhe lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
10 yBut they rebelled
zand grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
and himself fought against them.
11 Then he remembered athe days of old,
of Moses and his people.63
bWhere is he who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put in the midst of them
his Holy Spirit,
12 who caused his glorious arm
to go at the right hand of Moses,
cwho divided the waters before them
dto make for himself an everlasting name,
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
they did not stumble.
14 Like livestock that go down into the valley,
ethe Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So you led your people,
dto make for yourself a glorious name.
15 fLook down from heaven and see,
gfrom your holy and beautiful64 habitation.
Where are hyour zeal and your might?
The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
are held back from me.
16 For iyou are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
jour Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways
and kharden our heart, so that we fear you not?
lReturn for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
18 mYour holy people held possession for a little while;65
nour adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 oWe have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
like those who are not called by your name.
1 pOh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
qthat the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 66 as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
rto make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 sWhen you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 tFrom of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
uno eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?67
6 vWe have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
wWe all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 xThere is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in68 the hand of our iniquities.
8 yBut now, O Lord, you are our Father;
zwe are the clay, and you are our potter;
awe are all the work of your hand.
9 bBe not so terribly angry, O Lord,
cand remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 dYour holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 eOur holy and beautiful69 house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 fWill you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?
1 gI was ready to be sought by hthose who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
to a nation that was not called by70 my name.
2 iI spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
3 a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
jsacrificing in gardens
and making offerings on bricks;
4 who sit in tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
kwho eat pig’s flesh,
and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
5 who say, “Keep to yourself,
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
lThese are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
6 Behold, mit is written before me:
n“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
oI will indeed repay into their lap
7 both your iniquities pand your fathers’ iniquities together,
says the Lord;
qbecause they made offerings on the mountains
qand insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their lap
payment for their former deeds.”71
8 Thus says the Lord:
r“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants’ sake,
sand not destroy them all.
9 tI will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
and my servants shall dwell there.
10 uSharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
and vthe Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people wwho have sought me.
11 But xyou who forsake the Lord,
who forget ymy holy mountain,
who zset a table for Fortune
and zfill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
abecause, when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
bbut you did what was evil in my eyes
and chose what I did not delight in.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, cmy servants shall eat,
but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
14 behold, dmy servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out for pain of heart
and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
15 You shall leave your name to emy chosen ffor a curse,
and the Lord God will put you to death,
but his servants ghe will call by another name,
16 so that he who hblesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by hthe God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by ithe God of truth;
jbecause the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my eyes.
17 “For behold, kI create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, lI create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 mI will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
nno more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for othe young man shall die a hundred years old,
and pthe sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 qThey shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 qThey shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
rfor like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy72 the work of their hands.
23 sThey shall not labor in vain
tor bear children for calamity,73
for uthey shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
24 vBefore they call I will answer;
wwhile they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 xThe wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and ydust shall be the serpent’s food.
zThey shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
1 aThus says the Lord:
b“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
2 cAll these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
dBut this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
3 e“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers fpig’s blood;
he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
gThese have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delights in their abominations;
4 hI also will choose harsh treatment for them
and bring itheir fears upon them,
jbecause when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, they did not listen;
kbut they did what was evil in my eyes
and chose that in which I did not delight.”
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
and cast you out for my name’s sake
have said, l‘Let the Lord be glorified,
that we may see your joy’;
but it is they who shall be put to shame.
6 “The sound of an uproar from the city!
A sound from the temple!
The sound of the Lord,
mrendering recompense to his enemies!
7 n“Before she was in labor
she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
she delivered a son.
8 Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For nas soon as Zion was in labor
she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
says the Lord;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
says your God.
10 o“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her;
11 that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious abundance.”74
12 For thus says the Lord:
p“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and qyou shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
and bounced upon her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforts,
so rI will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
syour bones shall flourish like the grass;
and tthe hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,
and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.
15 “For behold, uthe Lord will come in fire,
and vhis chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For wby fire xwill the Lord enter into judgment,
and by his sword, with all flesh;
and those slain by the Lord shall be many.
17 y“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, zeating pig’s flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.
18 “For I know75 their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming76 ato gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, 19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them bI will send survivors to the nations, to cTarshish, dPul, and dLud, who draw the bow, to eTubal and eJavan, fto the coastlands far away, gthat have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 hAnd they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations ias an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 jAnd some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.
22 “For as kthe new heavens and the new earth
that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
so lshall your offspring and your name remain.
23 mFrom new moon to new moon,
and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.
24 “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For ntheir worm shall not die, otheir fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond77 branch.” 12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
13 The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north disaster78 shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17 But you, dress yourself for work;79 arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”
1 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord,
“I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the Lord,
the firstfruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it incurred guilt;
disaster came upon them,
declares the Lord.”
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord:
“What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
6 They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that none passes through,
where no man dwells?’
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, you defiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who handle the law did not know me;
the shepherds80 transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after things that do not profit.
9 “Therefore I still contend with you,
declares the Lord,
and with your children’s children I will contend.
10 For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
or send to Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
14 “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
Why then has he become a prey?
15 The lions have roared against him;
they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.
16 Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have shaved81 the crown of your head.
17 Have you not brought this upon yourself
by forsaking the Lord your God,
when he led you in the way?
18 And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?82
19 Your evil will chastise you,
and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and bitter
for you to forsake the Lord your God;
the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord God of hosts.
20 “For long ago I broke your yoke
and burst your bonds;
but you said, ‘I will not serve.’
Yes, on every high hill
and under every green tree
you bowed down like a whore.
21 Yet I planted you a choice vine,
wholly of pure seed.
How then have you turned degenerate
and become a wild vine?
22 Though you wash yourself with lye
and use much soap,
the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the Lord God.
23 How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley;
know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
in her month they will find her.
25 Keep your feet from going unshod
and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
for I have loved foreigners,
and after them I will go.’
26 “As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
they, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets,
27 who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to me,
and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble they say,
‘Arise and save us!’
28 But where are your gods
that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you,
in your time of trouble;
for as many as your cities
are your gods, O Judah.
29 “Why do you contend with me?
You have all transgressed against me,
declares the Lord.
30 In vain have I struck your children;
they took no correction;
your own sword devoured your prophets
like a ravening lion.
31 And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
we will come no more to you’?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me
days without number.
33 “How well you direct your course
to seek love!
So that even to wicked women
you have taught your ways.
34 Also on your skirts is found
the lifeblood of the guiltless poor;
you did not find them breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things
35 you say, ‘I am innocent;
surely his anger has turned from me.’
Behold, I will bring you to judgment
for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 How much you go about,
changing your way!
You shall be put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 From it too you will come away
with your hands on your head,
for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you will not prosper by them.
1 “If83 a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
Would not that land be greatly polluted?
You have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?
declares the Lord.
2 Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been ravished?
By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers
like an Arab in the wilderness.
You have polluted the land
with your vile whoredom.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have the forehead of a whore;
you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just now called to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 will he be angry forever,
will he be indignant to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could.”
6 The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? 7 And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”
11 And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
“‘Return, faithless Israel,
declares the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
declares the Lord;
I will not be angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you rebelled against the Lord your God
and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree,
and that you have not obeyed my voice,
declares the Lord.
14 Return, O faithless children,
declares the Lord;
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.
15 “‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the Lord, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. 17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.
19 “‘I said,
How I would set you among my sons,
and give you a pleasant land,
a heritage most beautiful of all nations.
And I thought you would call me, My Father,
and would not turn from following me.
20 Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,
so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,
declares the Lord.’”
21 A voice on the bare heights is heard,
the weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons
because they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 “Return, O faithless sons;
I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to you,
for you are the Lord our God.
23 Truly the hills are a delusion,
the orgies84 on the mountains.
Truly in the Lord our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
1 “If you return, O Israel,
declares the Lord,
to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
and do not waver,
2 and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then nations shall bless themselves in him,
and in him shall they glory.”
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground,
and sow not among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.”
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from the north,
and great destruction.
7 A lion has gone up from his thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
without inhabitant.
8 For this put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned back from us.”
9 “In that day, declares the Lord, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12 a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”
13 Behold, he comes up like clouds;
his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are swifter than eagles—
woe to us, for we are ruined!
14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come from a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field are they against her all around,
because she has rebelled against me,
declares the Lord.
18 Your ways and your deeds
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and it is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”
19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent,
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
20 Crash follows hard on crash;
the whole land is laid waste.
Suddenly my tents are laid waste,
my curtains in a moment.
21 How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For my people are foolish;
they know me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not.”
23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void;
and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25 I looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
27 For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
28 “For this the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”
29 At the noise of horseman and archer
every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
all the cities are forsaken,
and no man dwells in them.
30 And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,
anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”
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