The World English Bible (WEB) Part 65

31:1

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in hors.e.m.e.n because they are very strong, but they don't look to the Holy One of Israel, and they don't seek Yahweh! 31:2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring disaster, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evil-doers, and against the help of those who work iniquity. 31:3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not G.o.d; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When Yahweh stretches out his hand, both he who helps shall stumble, and he who is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together. 31:4 For thus says Yahweh to me, "As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a mult.i.tude of shepherds is called together against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them, so Yahweh of Armies will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights. 31:5 As birds hovering, so Yahweh of Armies will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it.

He will pa.s.s over and preserve it." 31:6 Return to him from whom you have deeply revolted, children of Israel. 31:7 For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold--sin which your own hands have made for you.

31:8

"The a.s.syrian will fall by the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of mankind, shall devour him. He will flee from the sword, and his young men will become subject to forced labor. 31:9 His rock will pa.s.s away by reason of terror, and his princes will be afraid of the banner," says Yahweh, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. 32:1

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. 32:2 A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large rock in a weary land. 32:3 The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen. 32:4 The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. 32:5 The fool will no longer be called n.o.ble, nor the scoundrel be highly respected. 32:6 For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profanity, and to utter error against Yahweh, To make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 32:7 The ways of the scoundrel are evil. He devises wicked devices to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks right. 32:8 But the n.o.ble devises n.o.ble things; and he will continue in n.o.ble things. 32:9 Rise up, you women who are at ease! Hear my voice! You careless daughters, give ear to my speech! 32:10 For days beyond a year you will be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage shall fail. The harvest won't come. 32:11 Tremble, you women who are at ease! Be troubled, you careless ones! Strip yourselves, make yourselves naked, and put sackcloth on your waist. 32:12 Beat your b.r.e.a.s.t.s for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. 32:13 Thorns and briars will come up on my people's land; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city.

32:14 For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks; 32:15 Until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest. 32:16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field. 32:17 The work of righteousness will be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. 32:18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting places. 32:19 Though hail flattens the forest, and the city is leveled completely. 32:20 Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out the feet of the ox and the donkey. 33:1 Woe to you who destroy, but you weren't destroyed; and who betray, but n.o.body betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have made an end of betrayal, you will be betrayed. 33:2 Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. 33:3 At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled. When you lift yourself up, the nations are scattered.

33:4 Your spoil will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men will leap on it as locusts leap. 33:5 Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. 33:6 There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is your treasure. 33:7 Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the amba.s.sadors of peace weep bitterly. 33:8 The highways are desolate. The traveling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn't regard man. 33:9 The land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare. 33:10 "Now I will arise," says Yahweh; "Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted. 33:11 You will conceive chaff. You will bring forth stubble.

Your breath is a fire that will devour you. 33:12 The peoples will be like the burning of lime, like thorns that are cut down and burned in the fire. 33:13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might." 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the G.o.dless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?

33:15 He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; He who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil--33:16 he will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure. 33:17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant land. 33:18 Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers? 33:19 You will no longer see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that you can't comprehend, with a strange language that you can't understand. 33:20 Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that won't be removed. Its stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. 33:21 But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, neither will any gallant s.h.i.+p pa.s.s by there. 33:22 For Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us.

33:23 Your rigging is untied. They couldn't strengthen the foot of their mast. They couldn't spread the sail. Then the prey of a great spoil was divided. The lame took the prey. 33:24 The inhabitant won't say, "I am sick." The people who dwell therein will be forgiven their iniquity.

34:1 Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear; the world, and everything that comes from it.

34:2 For Yahweh is enraged against all the nations, and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over for slaughter. 34:3 Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up; and the mountains will melt in their blood. 34:4 All of the army of the sky will be dissolved. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree. 34:5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, for judgment. 34:6 Yahweh's sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 34:7 The wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat. 34:8 For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 34:9 Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, And its land will become burning pitch. 34:10 It won't be quenched night nor day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pa.s.s through it forever and ever. 34:11 But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. 34:12 They shall call its n.o.bles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.

34:13 Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. 34:14 The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest.

34:15 The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate. 34:16 Search in the book of Yahweh, and read: not one of these will be missing. none will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. 34:17 He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line.

They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it. 35:1 The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose. 35:2 It will blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. Lebanon's glory Lebanon will be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They will see Yahweh's glory, the excellence of our G.o.d. 35:3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 35:4 Tell those who have a fearful heart, "Be strong. Don't be afraid. Behold, your G.o.d will come with vengeance, G.o.d's retribution. He will come and save you. 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 35:6 Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing; for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. 35:7 The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. Gra.s.s with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of jackals, where they lay. 35:8 A highway will be there, a road, and it will be called The Holy Way. The unclean shall not pa.s.s over it, but it will be for those who walk in the Way. Wicked fools will not go there. 35:9 No lion will be there, nor will any ravenous animal go up on it. They will not be found there; but the redeemed will walk there. 35:10 The Yahweh's ransomed ones will return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." 36:1 Now it happened in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of a.s.syria attacked all of the fortified cities of Judah, and captured them. 36:2 The king of a.s.syria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to king Hezekiah with a large army. He stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool in the fuller's field highway. 36:3 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder came out to him. 36:4 Rabshakeh said to them, "Now tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of a.s.syria, "What confidence is this in which you trust? 36:5 I say that your counsel and strength for the war are only vain words. Now in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me? 36:6 Behold, you trust in the staff of this bruised reed, even in Egypt, which if a man leans on it, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 36:7 But if you tell me, 'We trust in Yahweh our G.o.d,' isn't that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall wors.h.i.+p before this altar?'" 36:8 Now therefore, please make a pledge to my master the king of a.s.syria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

36:9 How then can you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and for hors.e.m.e.n? 36:10 Have I come up now without Yahweh against this land to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, "Go up against this land, and destroy it."'"

36:11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and don't speak to us in the Jews' language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

36:12 But Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me only to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?" 36:13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and called out with a loud voice in the Jews'

language, and said, "Hear the words of the great king, the king of a.s.syria! 36:14 Thus says the king, 'Don't let Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you. 36:15 Don't let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, "Yahweh will surely deliver us. This city won't be given into the hand of the king of a.s.syria."' 36:16 Don't listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of a.s.syria, 'Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and each of you eat from his vine, and each one from his fig tree, and each one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 36:17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 36:18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, "Yahweh will deliver us." Have any of the G.o.ds of the nations delivered their lands from the hand of the king of a.s.syria? 36:19 Where are the G.o.ds of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the G.o.ds of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 36:20 Who are they among all the G.o.ds of these countries that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'"

36:21 But they remained silent, and said nothing in reply, for the king's commandment was, "Don't answer him."

36:22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

37:1 It happened, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh's house. 37:2 He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 37:3 They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth. 37:4 It may be Yahweh your G.o.d will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of a.s.syria his master has sent to defy the living G.o.d, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your G.o.d has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'" 37:5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

37:6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Don't be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of a.s.syria have blasphemed me. 37:7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."'"

37:8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of a.s.syria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 37:9 He heard news concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "He has come out to fight against you." When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 37:10 "Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, 'Don't let your G.o.d in whom you trust deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem won't be given into the hand of the king of a.s.syria." 37:11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of a.s.syria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered? 37:12 Have the G.o.ds of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Tela.s.sar? 37:13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?'"

37:14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to Yahweh's house, and spread it before Yahweh. 37:15 Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying, 37:16 "Yahweh of Armies, the G.o.d of Israel, who is enthroned among the cherubim, you are the G.o.d, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 37:17 Turn your ear, Yahweh, and hear. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and behold. Hear all of the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to defy the living G.o.d. 37:18 Truly, Yahweh, the kings of a.s.syria have destroyed all the countries and their land, 37:19 and have cast their G.o.ds into the fire; for they were no G.o.ds, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. 37:20 Now therefore, Yahweh our G.o.d, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, even you only."

37:21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says Yahweh, the G.o.d of Israel, 'Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of a.s.syria, 37:22 this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.

37:23 Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. 37:24 By your servants, have you defied the Lord, and have said, "With the mult.i.tude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice fir trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field. 37:25 I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt." 37:26 Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pa.s.s, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps. 37:27 Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the gra.s.s of the field, and like the green herb, like the gra.s.s on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown.

37:28 But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me. 37:29 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came. 37:30 This shall be the sign to you. You will eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same; and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 37:31 The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 37:32 For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go forth, and survivors will escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.' 37:33 Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the king of a.s.syria, 'He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither will he come before it with s.h.i.+eld, nor cast up a mound against it. 37:34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come to this city,' says Yahweh. 37:35 'For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.'"

37:36 The angel of Yahweh went out and struck one hundred and eighty- five thousand men in the camp of the a.s.syrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37:37 So Sennacherib king of a.s.syria departed, went away, returned to Nineveh, and stayed there. 37:38 It happened, as he was wors.h.i.+pping in the house of Nisroch his G.o.d, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.

38:1 In those days was Hezekiah sick and near death. Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Set your house in order, for you will die, and not live.'"

38:2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, 38:3 and said, "Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight." Hezekiah wept bitterly.

38:4 Then the word of Yahweh came to Isaiah, saying, 38:5 "Go, and tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says Yahweh, the G.o.d of David your father, "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 38:6 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of a.s.syria, and I will defend this city. 38:7 This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken. 38:8 Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down."'"

38:9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered of his sickness.

38:10

I said, "In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years." 38:11 I said, "I won't see Yah, Yah in the land of the living. I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world. 38:12 My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me like a shepherd's tent. I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life. He will cut me off from the loom. From day even to night you will make an end of me. 38:13 I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From day even to night you will make an end of me.

38:14 I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security." 38:15 What will I say? He has both spoken to me, and himself has done it. I will walk carefully all my years because of the anguish of my soul.

38:16 Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them: you restore me, and cause me to live. 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

38:18 For Sheol can't praise you. Death can't celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can't hope for your truth. 38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day. The father shall make known your truth to the children. 38:20 Yahweh will save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of Yahweh. 38:21 Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover."

38:22 Hezekiah also had said, "What is the sign that I will go up to the house of Yahweh?"

39:1 At that time, Merodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and had recovered. 39:2 Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn't show them. 39:3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and asked him, "What did these men say?

Where did they come from to you?"

Hezekiah said, "They have come from a country far from me, even from Babylon."

39:4 Then he asked, "What have they seen in your house?"

Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."

39:5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of Yahweh of Armies: 39:6 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,' says Yahweh. 39:7 'They will take away your sons who will issue from you, whom you shall father, and they will be eunuchs in the king of Babylon's palace.'"

39:8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "Yahweh's word which you have spoken is good." He said moreover, "For there will be peace and truth in my days."

40:1 "Comfort, comfort my people," says your G.o.d. 40:2 "Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh's hand double for all her sins."

40:3

The voice of one who calls out, "Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our G.o.d. 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain. 40:5 The glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it." 40:6 The voice of one saying, "Cry!" One said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like gra.s.s, and all its glory is like the flower of the field. 40:7 The gra.s.s withers, the flower fades, because Yahweh's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like gra.s.s. 40:8 The gra.s.s withers, the flower fades; but the word of our G.o.d stands forever." 40:9 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don't be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold, your G.o.d!" 40:10 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd.

He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young. 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 40:13 Who has directed the Spirit of Yahweh, or has taught him as his counselor? 40:14 Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? 40:15 Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing. 40:16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering. 40:17 All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity. 40:18 To whom then will you liken G.o.d? Or what likeness will you compare to him? 40:19 A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.

40:20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved. 40:21 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard, yet? Haven't you been told from the beginning? Haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth? 40:22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like gra.s.shoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in; 40:23 who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless. 40:24 They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble. 40:25 "To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?" says the Holy One. 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, Not one is lacking. 40:27 Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, "My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my G.o.d?" 40:28 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting G.o.d, Yahweh, The Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

40:29 He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. 40:30 Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; 40:31 But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint. 41:1 "Keep silent before me, islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let's meet together for judgment. 41:2 Who has raised up one from the east? Whom called him to his foot in righteousness? He hands over nations to him, and makes him rule over kings. He gives them like the dust to his sword, like the driven stubble to his bow. 41:3 He pursues them, and pa.s.ses by safely, Even by a way that he had not gone with his feet. 41:4 Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, the first, and with the last, I am he." 41:5 The islands have seen, and fear. The ends of the earth tremble. They approach, and come. 41:6 Everyone helps his neighbor. They say to their brothers, "Be strong!" 41:7 So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. He who smoothes with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good;" and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter. 41:8 "But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend, 41:9 You whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from its corners, and said to you, 'You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away;' 41:10 Don't you be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be dismayed, for I am your G.o.d. I will strengthen you.

Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. 41:11 Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish. 41:12 You will seek them, and won't find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent thing. 41:13 For I, Yahweh your G.o.d, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Don't be afraid. I will help you.'

41:14 Don't be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you," says Yahweh, "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

41:15 Behold, I have made you into a new sharp thres.h.i.+ng instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff. 41:16 You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel. 41:17 The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the G.o.d of Israel, will not forsake them.

41:18 I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. 41:19 I will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oil trees in the wilderness. I will set fir trees, pine, and box trees together in the desert; 41:20 that they may see, know, consider, and understand together, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. 41:21 Produce your cause," says Yahweh.

"Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob. 41:22 "Let them announce, and declare to us what shall happen. Declare the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come. 41:23 Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are G.o.ds. Yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together. 41:24 Behold, you are of nothing, and your work is of nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination. 41:25 "I have raised up one from the north, and he has come; from the rising of the sun, one who calls on my name; and he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter treads clay. 41:26 Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? And before, that we may say, 'He is right?' Surely, there is no one who declares. Surely, there is no one who shows. Surely, there is no one who hears your words.

41:27 I am the first to say to Zion, 'Behold, look at them;' and I will give one who brings good news to Jerusalem. 41:28 When I look, there is no man; even among them there is no counselor who, when I ask of them, can answer a word. 41:29 Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion. 42:1 "Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights--I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations. 42:2 He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street. 42:3 He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice. 42:4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands will wait for his law." 42:5 Thus says G.o.d Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it. 42:6 "I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations; 42:7 to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison. 42:8 "I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images. 42:9 Behold, the former things have happened, and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up." 42:10 Sing to Yahweh a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands and their inhabitants. 42:11 Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices, with the villages that Kedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains! 42:12 Let them give glory to Yahweh, and declare his praise in the islands. 42:13 Yahweh will go out like a mighty man. He will stir up zeal like a man of war. He will raise a war cry. Yes, he will shout aloud. He will triumph over his enemies. 42:14 "I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant. 42:15 I will destroy mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs. I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools. 42:16 I will bring the blind by a way that they don't know. I will lead them in paths that they don't know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them. 42:17 "Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, 'You are our G.o.ds' will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed. 42:18 "Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see. 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send?

Who is as blind as he who is at peace, and as blind as Yahweh's servant?

42:20 You see many things, but don't observe. His ears are open, but he doesn't listen. 42:21 It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable. 42:22 But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prisons. They have become a prey, and no one delivers; and a spoil, and no one says, 'Restore them!' 42:23 Who is there among you who will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? 42:24 Who gave Jacob as plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Didn't Yahweh, he against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his ways, and they disobeyed his law. 42:25 Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire all around, but he didn't know; and it burned him, but he didn't take it to heart." 43:1 But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: "Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. 43:2 When you pa.s.s through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you. 43:3 For I am Yahweh your G.o.d, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. 43:4 Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you; therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life. 43:5 Don't be afraid; for I am with you. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west. 43:6 I will tell the north, 'Give them up!' and tell the south, 'Don't hold them back! Bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth--43:7 everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.'"

43:8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. 43:9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be a.s.sembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, "That is true." 43:10 "You are my witnesses,"

says Yahweh, "With my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no G.o.d formed, neither will there be after me. 43:11 I myself am Yahweh; and besides me there is no savior. 43:12 I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown; and there was no strange G.o.d among you. Therefore you are my witnesses," says Yahweh, "and I am G.o.d. 43:13 Yes, since the day was I am he; and there is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?" 43:14 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake, I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the s.h.i.+ps of their rejoicing. 43:15 I am Yahweh, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King."

43:16

Thus says Yahweh, who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 43:17 who brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched like a wick): 43:18 "Don't remember the former things, and don't consider the things of old. 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs forth now. Don't you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 43:20 The animals of the field shall honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 43:21 the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise. 43:22 Yet you have not called on me, Jacob; but you have been weary of me, Israel. 43:23 You have not brought me of your sheep for burnt offerings; neither have you honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense. 43:24 You have bought me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have burdened me with your sins. You have wearied me with your iniquities. 43:25 I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins. 43:26 Put me in remembrance. Let us plead together. Set forth your case, that you may be justified. 43:27 Your first father sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me. 43:28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel a reviling."

44:1 Yet listen now, Jacob my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen.