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  Woe to those who ^ydecree iniquitous decrees,

and the writers who ^zkeep writing oppression,

2  to turn aside the needy from justice

and ^ato rob the poor of my people of their right,

that widows may be their spoil,

and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

3  What will you do on ^bthe day of punishment,

in the ruin that will come ^cfrom afar?

To whom will you flee for help,

and where will you leave your wealth?

4  Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners

or fall among the slain.

^dFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

5  Woe to Assyria, ^ethe rod of my anger;

the staff in their hands is my fury!

6  Against a ^fgodless nation I send him,

and against the people of my wrath I command him,

to take ^gspoil and seize plunder,

and to ^htread them down like the mire of the streets.

7  But he ⁱdoes not so intend,

and his heart does not so think;

but it is in his heart to destroy,

and to cut off nations not a few;

8  for he says:

^j“Are not my commanders all kings?

9  ^kIs not ^lCalno like ^mCarchemish?

Is not ⁿHamath like ^oArpad?

^pIs not ^qSamaria like Damascus?

10  As my hand has reached to ^rthe kingdoms of the idols,

whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

11  shall I not do to Jerusalem and ^sher idols

^tas I have done to Samaria and her images?”

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,

and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;

I remove the boundaries of peoples,

and plunder their treasures;

like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.

14  My hand has found like a nest

the wealth of the peoples;

and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,

so I have gathered all the earth;

and there was none that moved a wing

or opened the mouth or chirped.”

15  Shall ^xthe axe boast over him who hews with it,

or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?

As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,

or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!

16  Therefore the Lord God of hosts

will send wasting sickness among his ^ystout warriors,

and under his glory ^za burning will be kindled,

like the burning of fire.

17  ^aThe light of Israel will become a fire,

and ^bhis Holy One a flame,

and ^cit will burn and devour

his thorns and briers ^din one day.

18  The glory of ^ehis forest and of his ^ffruitful land

the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,

and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

19  The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few

that a child can write them down.

28  He has come to Aiath;

he has passed through ^yMigron;

at Michmash he stores ^zhis baggage;

29  they have crossed over ^athe pass;

at ^bGeba they lodge for the night;

^cRamah trembles;

^dGibeah of Saul has fled.

30  Cry aloud, O daughter of ^eGallim!

Give attention, O Laishah!

O poor ^fAnathoth!

31  Madmenah is in flight;

the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

32  This very day he will halt at ^gNob;

he will shake his fist

at the mount of ^hthe daughter of Zion,

the hill of Jerusalem.

33  Behold, the Lord God of hosts

ⁱwill lop ^jthe boughs with terrifying power;

the great in height will be hewn down,

and the lofty will be brought low.

34  He will cut down ^jthe thickets of the forest with an axe,

and ^kLebanon will fall by the Majestic One.