Isaiah 40-59
Holman Christian Standard Bible
God’s People Comforted
40 “Comfort, comfort My people,”(A)
says your God.
2 “Speak tenderly to[a] Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of forced labor is over,
her iniquity(B) has been pardoned,(C)
and she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.”(D)
3 A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;(E)
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.(F)
4 Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.(G)
5 And the glory of the Lord will appear,(H)
and all humanity[b] together will see it,(I)
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(J)
6 A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
Another[c] said, “What should I cry out?”
“All humanity is grass,(K)
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.(L)
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath[d] of the Lord blows on them;[e]
indeed, the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flowers fade,(M)
but the word of our God remains forever.”(N)
9 Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain.(O)
Jerusalem, herald of good news,(P)
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”(Q)
10 See, the Lord God comes with strength,
and His power establishes His rule.(R)
His reward is with Him,(S)
and His gifts accompany Him.
11 He protects His flock like a shepherd;(T)
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them in the fold of His garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?(U)
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains in a balance
and the hills in the scales?
13 Who has directed[f] the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave Him His counsel?(V)
14 Who did He consult with?
Who gave Him understanding(W)
and taught Him the paths of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge
and showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales;
He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.(X)
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him;
they are considered by Him
as nothingness and emptiness.(Y)
18 Who will you compare God with?
What likeness will you compare Him to?(Z)
19 To an idol?—something that a smelter casts,
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver welds for it?(AA)
20 To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot?[g]
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.(AB)
21 Do you not know?(AC)
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?(AD)
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.(AE)
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth(AF)
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.(AG)
23 He reduces princes to nothing(AH)
and makes judges of the earth irrational.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.(AI)
25 “Who will you compare Me to,(AJ)
or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up[h] and see:
who created(AK) these?
He brings out the starry host by number;
He calls all of them by name.(AL)
Because of His great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?(AM)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Yahweh is the everlasting God,(AN)
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never grows faint or weary;
there is no limit to His understanding.(AO)
29 He gives strength to the weary
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Youths may faint and grow weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31 but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;(AP)
they will soar on wings like eagles;(AQ)
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not faint.
The Lord versus the Nations’ Gods
41 “Be silent before Me, islands!(AR)
And let peoples renew their strength.
Let them approach, then let them testify;
let us come together for the trial.
2 Who has stirred him up from the east?(AS)
He calls righteousness to his feet.[i](AT)
The Lord hands nations over to him,(AU)
and he subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like wind-driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them, going on safely,
hardly touching the path with his feet.
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, Yahweh, am the first,
and with the last(AV)—I am He.”(AW)
5 The islands see and are afraid,
the whole earth trembles.(AX)
They approach and arrive.
6 Each one helps the other,
and says to another, “Take courage!”
7 The craftsman encourages the metalworker;(AY)
the one who flattens with the hammer
supports the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it will not fall over.(AZ)
8 But you, Israel, My servant,(BA)
Jacob, whom I have chosen,(BB)
descendant of Abraham, My friend(BC)—
9 I brought[j] you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corners.
I said to you: You are My servant;
I have chosen you and not rejected you.(BD)
10 Do not fear, for I am with you;(BE)
do not be afraid, for I am your God.(BF)
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.(BG)
11 Be sure that all who are enraged against you
will be ashamed and disgraced;(BH)
those who contend with you
will become as nothing and will perish.
12 You will look for those who contend with you,
but you will not find them.
Those who war against you
will become absolutely nothing.
13 For I, Yahweh your God,(BI)
hold your right hand
and say to you: Do not fear,
I will help you.
14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,(BJ)
you men[k] of Israel:
I will help you—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
Your Redeemer(BK) is the Holy One of Israel.(BL)
15 See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board,
new, with many teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them
and make hills into chaff.(BM)
16 You will winnow them(BN)
and a wind will carry them away,
a gale will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17 The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, Yahweh, will answer them;(BO)
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers on the barren heights,(BP)
and springs in the middle of the plains.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and dry land into springs of water.(BQ)
19 I will plant cedars in the desert,
acacias, myrtles, and olive trees.(BR)
I will put juniper trees in the desert,
elms and cypress trees together,
20 so that all may see and know,
consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,(BS)
the Holy One of Israel has created(BT) it.
21 “Submit your case,” says the Lord.
“Present your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.
22 “Let them come and tell us
what will happen.(BU)
Tell us the past events,
so that we may reflect on them
and know the outcome,
or tell us the future.
23 Tell us the coming events,(BV)
then we will know that you are gods.
Indeed, do something good or bad,
then we will be in awe[l] and perceive.
24 Look, you are nothing(BW)
and your work is worthless.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
25 “I have raised up one from the north,(BX) and he has come,
one from the east(BY) who invokes My[m] name.(BZ)
He will march over rulers as if they were mud,
like a potter who treads the clay.
26 Who told about this from the beginning,
so that we might know,
and from times past,
so that we might say: He is right?
No one announced it,
no one told it,
no one heard your words.
27 I was the first to say to Zion:[n]
Look! Here they are!
And I gave a herald of good news to Jerusalem.(CA)
28 When I look, there is no one;
there is no counselor among them;
when I ask them, they have nothing to say.(CB)
29 Look, all of them are a delusion;[o]
their works are nonexistent;
their images are wind and emptiness.
The Servant’s Mission
42 “This(CC) is My Servant;(CD) I strengthen Him,
this is My Chosen One;(CE) I delight in Him.(CF)
I have put My Spirit on Him;(CG)
He will bring justice[p] to the nations.(CH)
2 He will not cry out or shout
or make His voice heard in the streets.
3 He will not break a bruised reed,
and He will not put out a smoldering wick;
He will faithfully bring justice.
4 He will not grow weak or be discouraged
until He has established justice on earth.
The islands will wait for His instruction.”(CI)
5 This is what God, Yahweh, says—
who created the heavens and stretched them out,(CJ)
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,(CK)
who gives breath to the people on it
and life[q] to those who walk on it(CL)—
6 “I, Yahweh, have called You
for a righteous purpose,[r](CM)
and I will hold You by Your hand.(CN)
I will keep You and appoint You
to be a covenant for the people(CO)
and a light to the nations,(CP)
7 in order to open blind eyes,(CQ)
to bring out prisoners from the dungeon,(CR)
and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
8 I am Yahweh, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another(CS)
or My praise to idols.
9 The past events have indeed happened.
Now I declare new events;(CT)
I announce them to you before they occur.”
A Song of Praise
10 Sing a new song to the Lord;(CU)
sing His praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea with all that fills it,(CV)
you islands with your[s] inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its cities shout,
the settlements where Kedar dwells cry aloud.(CW)
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy;(CX)
let them cry out from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
and declare His praise in the islands.
13 The Lord advances like a warrior;
He stirs up His zeal like a soldier.(CY)
He shouts, He roars aloud,
He prevails over His enemies.
14 “I have kept silent from ages past;
I have been quiet and restrained Myself.(CZ)
But now, I will groan like a woman in labor,(DA)
gasping breathlessly.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry up marshes.(DB)
16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know;(DC)
I will guide them on paths they have not known.
I will turn darkness to light in front of them(DD)
and rough places into level ground.(DE)
This is what I will do for them,
and I will not forsake them.(DF)
17 They will be turned back and utterly ashamed—
those who trust in idols
and say to metal-plated images:
You are our gods!(DG)
Israel’s Blindness and Deafness
18 “Listen, you deaf!
Look, you blind, so that you may see.(DH)
19 Who is blind but My servant,(DI)
or deaf like My messenger I am sending?
Who is blind like My dedicated one,[t]
or blind like the servant of the Lord?
20 Though seeing many things,[u] you do not obey.
Though his ears are open, he does not listen.”(DJ)
21 The Lord was pleased, because of His righteousness,
to magnify His instruction and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in holes
or imprisoned in dungeons.
They have become plunder(DK)
with no one to rescue them
and loot, with no one saying, “Give it back!”
23 Who among you will pay attention to this?
Let him listen and obey in the future.
24 Who gave Jacob to the robber,[v]
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord?
Have we not sinned against Him?
They were not willing to walk in His ways,
and they would not listen to His instruction.
25 So He poured out on Jacob His furious anger
and the power of war.
It surrounded him with fire, but he did not know it;
it burned him, but he paid no attention.[w](DL)
Restoration of Israel
43 Now this is what the Lord says—
the One who created you, Jacob,
and the One who formed you, Israel(DM)—
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;(DN)
I have called you by your name; you are Mine.(DO)
2 I will be with you(DP)
when you pass through the waters,(DQ)
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not overwhelm you.
You will not be scorched
when you walk through the fire,(DR)
and the flame will not burn you.
3 For I Yahweh your God,(DS)
the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior,(DT)
give Egypt as a ransom for you,
Cush and Seba in your place.
4 Because you are precious in My sight(DU)
and honored, and I love you,(DV)
I will give people in exchange for you
and nations instead of your life.
5 Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your descendants from the east,(DW)
and gather you from the west.(DX)
6 I will say to the north: Give them up!
and to the south: Do not hold them back!
Bring My sons from far away,(DY)
and My daughters from the ends of the earth(DZ)—
7 everyone called by My name
and created for My glory.
I have formed him; indeed, I have made him.”
8 Bring out a people who are blind, yet have eyes,(EA)
and are deaf, yet have ears.
9 All the nations are gathered together,
and the peoples are assembled.(EB)
Who among them can declare this,(EC)
and tell us the former things?
Let them present their witnesses
to vindicate themselves,
so that people may hear and say, “It is true.”
10 “You are My witnesses”(ED)—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“and My servant whom I have chosen,(EE)
so that you may know and believe Me
and understand that I am He.(EF)
No god was formed before Me,
and there will be none after Me.(EG)
11 I, I am Yahweh,
and there is no other Savior but Me.(EH)
12 I alone declared, saved, and proclaimed—
and not some foreign god[x] among you.
So you are My witnesses”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“and[y] I am God.(EI)
13 Also, from today on I am He alone,
and none can deliver from My hand.(EJ)
I act, and who can reverse it?”(EK)
God’s Deliverance of Rebellious Israel
14 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer,(EL) the Holy One of Israel(EM) says:
Because of you, I will send to Babylon
and bring all of them as fugitives,[z]
even the Chaldeans(EN) in the ships in which they rejoice.[aa]
15 I am Yahweh, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.
16 This is what the Lord says—
who makes a way in the sea,
and a path through surging waters,(EO)
17 who brings out the chariot and horse,(EP)
the army and the mighty one together
(they lie down, they do not rise again;
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick(EQ))—
18 “Do not remember the past events,
pay no attention to things of old.(ER)
19 Look, I am about to do something new;(ES)
even now it is coming. Do you not see it?
Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness,(ET)
rivers[ab] in the desert.
20 The animals of the field will honor Me,
jackals and ostriches,
because I provide water in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert,(EU)
to give drink to My chosen people.
21 The people I formed for Myself
will declare My praise.(EV)
22 “But Jacob, you have not called on Me,
because, Israel, you have become weary of Me.(EW)
23 You have not brought Me your sheep for burnt offerings
or honored Me with your sacrifices.(EX)
I have not burdened you with offerings
or wearied you with incense.[ac]
24 You have not bought Me aromatic cane with silver,
or satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened Me with your sins;
you have wearied Me(EY) with your iniquities.(EZ)
25 “It is I who sweep away your transgressions(FA)
for My own sake(FB)
and remember your sins no more.(FC)
26 Take Me to court; let us argue our case together.(FD)
State your case, so that you may be vindicated.
27 Your first father sinned,(FE)
and your mediators have rebelled against Me.(FF)
28 So I defiled the officers of the sanctuary,
and set Jacob apart for destruction(FG)
and Israel for abuse.
Spiritual Blessing
44 “And now listen, Jacob My servant,
Israel whom I have chosen.(FH)
2 This is the word of the Lord
your Maker who formed you from the womb;
He[ad] will help you:
Do not fear; Jacob is My servant;
I have chosen Jeshurun.[ae](FI)
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit(FJ) on your descendants
and My blessing on your offspring.
4 They will sprout among[af] the grass
like poplars by flowing streams.
5 This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
still another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and name himself by the name of Israel.”
No God Other Than Yahweh
6 This is what the Lord, the King of Israel and its Redeemer,(FK) the Lord of Hosts, says:
I am the first and I am the last.(FL)
There is no God but Me.(FM)
7 Who, like Me, can announce the future?
Let him say so and make a case before Me,(FN)
since I have established an ancient people.
Let these gods declare[ag] the coming things,
and what will take place.
8 Do not be startled or afraid.
Have I not told you and declared it long ago?
You are my witnesses!(FO)
Is there any God but Me?(FP)
There is no other Rock;(FQ) I do not know any.
9 All who make idols are nothing,
and what they treasure does not profit.
Their witnesses do not see or know anything,
so they will be put to shame.(FR)
10 Who makes a god or casts a metal image
for no profit?(FS)
11 Look, all its worshipers will be put to shame,
and the craftsmen are humans.
They all will assemble and stand;
they all will be startled and put to shame.
12 The ironworker labors over the coals,
shapes the idol with hammers,
and works it with his strong arm.
Also he grows hungry and his strength fails;
he doesn’t drink water and is faint.
13 The woodworker stretches out a measuring line,
he outlines it with a stylus;
he shapes it with chisels
and outlines it with a compass.
He makes it according to a human likeness,(FT)
like a beautiful person,
to dwell in a temple.
14 He cuts down[ah] cedars for his use,
or he takes a cypress or an oak.
He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.
He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.
15 It serves as fuel for man.
He takes some of it and warms himself;
also he kindles a fire and bakes bread;
he even makes it into a god and worships it;
he makes an idol from it and bows down to it.
16 He burns half of it in a fire,
and he roasts meat on that half.
He eats the roast and is satisfied.
He warms himself and says, “Ah!
I am warm, I see the blaze.”
17 He makes a god or his idol with the rest of it.
He bows down to it and worships;
He prays to it,(FU) “Save me, for you are my god.”
18 Such people[ai] do not comprehend
and cannot understand,
for He has shut their eyes[aj] so they cannot see,
and their minds so they cannot understand.
19 No one reflects,
no one has the perception or insight to say,
“I burned half of it in the fire,
I also baked bread on its coals,
I roasted meat and ate.
I will make something detestable(FV) with the rest of it,
and I will bow down to a block of wood.”
20 He feeds on[ak] ashes.
His deceived mind has led him astray,
and he cannot deliver himself,
or say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”(FW)
21 Remember these things, Jacob,
and Israel, for you are My servant;
I formed you, you are My servant;
Israel, you will never be forgotten by Me.[al](FX)
22 I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud,(FY)
and your sins like a mist.
Return to Me,(FZ)
for I have redeemed you.(GA)
23 Rejoice, heavens,(GB) for the Lord has acted;
shout, depths of the earth.
Break out into singing, mountains,
forest, and every tree in it.
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
and glorifies Himself through Israel.(GC)
Restoration of Israel through Cyrus
24 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer(GD) who formed you from the womb,(GE) says:
I am Yahweh, who made everything;
who stretched out the heavens by Myself;(GF)
who alone spread out the earth;
25 who destroys the omens of the false prophets
and makes fools of diviners;
who confounds the wise
and makes their knowledge foolishness;(GG)
26 who confirms the message of His servant
and fulfills the counsel of His messengers;
who says to Jerusalem, “She will be inhabited,”
and to the cities of Judah, “They will be rebuilt,”
and I will restore her ruins;
27 who says to the depths of the sea, “Be dry,”
and I will dry up your rivers;
28 who says to Cyrus,(GH) “My shepherd,
he will fulfill all My pleasure”(GI)
and says to Jerusalem, “She will be rebuilt,”(GJ)
and of the temple, “Its foundation will be laid.”
45 The Lord says this to Cyrus, His anointed,(GK)
whose right hand I have grasped(GL)
to subdue nations before him,
to disarm[am] kings,(GM)
to open the doors before him
and the gates will not be shut:
2 “I will go before you
and level the uneven places;[an](GN)
I will shatter the bronze doors
and cut the iron bars in two.(GO)
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches from secret places,(GP)
so that you may know that I, Yahweh,
the God of Israel call you by your name.(GQ)
4 I call you by your name,
because of Jacob My servant(GR)
and Israel My chosen one.
I give a name to you,
though you do not know Me.
5 I am Yahweh, and there is no other;(GS)
there is no God but Me.(GT)
I will strengthen[ao] you,
though you do not know Me,
6 so that all may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
that there is no one but Me.(GU)
I am Yahweh, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness,(GV)
I make success and create disaster;(GW)
I, Yahweh, do all these things.
8 “Heavens, sprinkle from above,
and let the skies shower righteousness.(GX)
Let the earth open up
so that salvation will sprout
and righteousness will spring up with it.(GY)
I, Yahweh, have created it.
9 “Woe to the one who argues with his Maker—
one clay pot among many.[ap]
Does clay say to the one forming it,
‘What are you making?’(GZ)
Or does your work say,
‘He has no hands’?[aq]
10 How absurd is the one who says to his father,
‘What are you fathering?’
or to his mother,
‘What are you giving birth to?’”
11 This is what the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel(HA) and its Maker, says:
“Ask Me what is to happen to[ar] My sons,(HB)
and instruct Me about the work of My hands.(HC)
12 I made the earth,
and created man on it.
It was My hands that stretched out the heavens,(HD)
and I commanded all their host.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness,(HE)
and will level all roads for him.
He will rebuild My city,(HF)
and set My exiles free,(HG)
not for a price or a bribe,”
says the Lord of Hosts.
God Alone is the Savior
14 This is what the Lord says:
The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush
and the Sabeans, men of stature,(HH)
will come over to you(HI)
and will be yours;
they will follow you,
they will come over in chains
and bow down to you.
They will confess[as] to you:
God is indeed with you,(HJ) and there is no other;
there is no other God.
15 Yes, You are a God who hides Himself,(HK)
God of Israel, Savior.(HL)
16 All of them are put to shame, even humiliated;(HM)
the makers of idols go in humiliation together.
17 Israel will be saved by the Lord
with an everlasting salvation;
you will not be put to shame or humiliated
for all eternity.(HN)
18 For this is what the Lord says—
God is the Creator of the heavens.
He formed the earth and made it.
He established it;
He did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited(HO)—
“I am Yahweh,
and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret,(HP)
somewhere in a land of darkness.
I did not say to the descendants of Jacob:
Seek Me in a wasteland.(HQ)
I, Yahweh, speak truthfully;(HR)
I say what is right.
20 “Come, gather together,
and draw near, you fugitives of the nations.
Those who carry their wooden idols,
and pray to a god who cannot save,(HS)
have no knowledge.(HT)
21 Speak up and present your case[at](HU)—
yes, let them take counsel together.
Who predicted this long ago?
Who announced it from ancient times?
Was it not I, Yahweh?
There is no other God but Me,
a righteous God and Savior;(HV)
there is no one except Me.(HW)
22 Turn to Me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth.
For I am God,
and there is no other.
23 By Myself I have sworn;(HX)
Truth has gone from My mouth,(HY)
a word that will not be revoked:
Every knee will bow(HZ) to Me,
every tongue will swear allegiance.
24 It will be said to Me: Righteousness and strength
is only in the Lord.”
All who are enraged against Him
will come to Him and be put to shame.(IA)
25 All the descendants of Israel
will be justified and find glory through the Lord.
There is No One Like God
46 Bel crouches; Nebo cowers.(IB)
Their idols are consigned to beasts and cattle.
The images you carry are loaded,
as a burden for the weary animal.
2 The gods cower; they crouch together;
they are not able to rescue the burden,
but they themselves go into captivity.(IC)
3 “Listen to Me, house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been sustained from the womb,
carried along since birth.
4 I will be the same until your old age,(ID)
and I will bear you up when you turn gray.
I have made you, and I will carry you;
I will bear and save you.
5 “Who will you compare Me or make Me equal to?
Who will you measure Me with,
so that we should be like each other?(IE)
6 Those who pour out their bags of gold
and weigh out silver on scales—
they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god.
Then they kneel and bow down to it.(IF)
7 They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along;(IG)
they set it in its place, and there it stands;
it does not budge from its place.(IH)
They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer;
it saves no one from his trouble.
8 “Remember this and be brave;[au]
take it to heart, you transgressors!
9 Remember what happened long ago,(II)
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and no one is like Me.
10 I declare the end from the beginning,
and from long ago what is not yet done,
saying: My plan will take place,
and I will do all My will.(IJ)
11 I call a bird of prey[av] from the east,(IK)
a man for My purpose from a far country.
Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about.(IL)
I have planned it; I will also do it.
12 Listen to me, you hardhearted,
far removed from justice:
13 I am bringing My justice near;(IM)
it is not far away,
and My salvation will not delay.
I will put salvation in Zion,
My splendor in Israel.
The Fall of Babylon
47 “Go down and sit in the dust,(IN)
Virgin Daughter Babylon.(IO)
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter Chaldea!
For you will no longer be called pampered and spoiled.
2 Take millstones and grind meal;(IP)
remove your veil,
strip off your skirt, bare your thigh,
wade through the streams.
3 Your nakedness will be uncovered,
and your shame will be exposed.(IQ)
I will take vengeance;
I will spare no one.[aw]
4 The Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer;(IR)
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
5 “Daughter Chaldea,
sit in silence(IS) and go into darkness.
For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.
6 I was angry with My people;
I profaned My possession,
and I placed them under your control.
You showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.
7 You said, ‘I will be the mistress forever.’
You did not take these things to heart
or think about their outcome.
8 “So now hear this, lover of luxury,
who sits securely,(IT)
who says to herself,
‘I exist, and there is no one else.
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.’(IU)
9 These two things will happen to you
suddenly, in one day:
loss of children and widowhood.
They will happen to you in their entirety,
in spite of your many sorceries(IV)
and the potency of your spells.
10 You were secure in your wickedness;
you said, ‘No one sees me.’(IW)
Your wisdom and knowledge
led you astray.
You said to yourself,
‘I exist, and there is no one else.’
11 But disaster will happen to you;
you will not know how to avert it.
And it will fall on you,
but you will be unable to ward it off.[ax]
Devastation will happen to you suddenly
and unexpectedly.(IX)
12 So take your stand with your spells
and your many sorceries,
which you have wearied yourself with from your youth.
Perhaps you will be able to succeed;
perhaps you will inspire terror!
13 You are worn out with your many consultations.
So let them stand and save you—
the astrologers,[ay] who observe the stars,(IY)
who predict monthly
what will happen to you.
14 Look, they are like stubble;(IZ)
fire burns them up.(JA)
They cannot deliver themselves
from the power[az] of the flame.
This is not a coal for warming themselves,
or a fire to sit beside!
15 This is what they are to you—
those who have wearied you
and have traded with you from your youth—
each wanders on his own way;
no one can save you.
Israel Must Leave Babylon
48 “Listen to this, house of Jacob—
those who are called by the name Israel
and have descended from[ba] Judah,(JB)
who swear by the name of Yahweh(JC)
and declare the God of Israel,
but not in truth or righteousness.
2 For they are named after the Holy City,
and lean on the God of Israel;(JD)
His name is Yahweh of Hosts.
3 I declared the past events long ago;
they came out of My mouth; I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they occurred.
4 Because I know that you are stubborn,
and your neck is iron[bb]
and your forehead bronze,(JE)
5 therefore I declared to you long ago.
I announced it to you before it occurred,
so you could not claim, ‘My idol caused them;
my carved image and cast idol control them.’(JF)
6 You have heard it. Observe it all.
Will you not acknowledge it?
From now on I will announce new things to you,
hidden things that you have not known.(JG)
7 They have been created now, and not long ago;
you have not heard of them before today,
so you could not claim, ‘I already knew them!’
8 You have never heard; you have never known;
For a long time your ears have not been open.
For I knew that you were very treacherous,
and were known as a rebel from birth.(JH)
9 I will delay My anger for the honor of My name,
and I will restrain Myself for your benefit and for My praise,
so that you will not be destroyed.
10 Look, I have refined you,(JI) but not as silver;
I have tested[bc] you in the furnace of affliction.
11 I will act for My own sake, indeed, My own,(JJ)
for how can I[bd] be defiled?
I will not give My glory to another.(JK)
12 “Listen to Me, Jacob,
and Israel, the one called by Me:
I am He; I am the first,
I am also the last.(JL)
13 My own hand founded the earth,
and My right hand spread out the heavens;(JM)
when I summoned them,
they stood up together.
14 All of you, assemble and listen!
Who among the idols[be] has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;[bf]
he will accomplish His will against Babylon,(JN)
and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15 I—I have spoken;
yes, I have called him;(JO)
I have brought him,
and he will succeed in his mission.(JP)
16 Approach Me and listen to this.
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;(JQ)
from the time anything existed, I was there.”
And now the Lord God
has sent me and His Spirit.(JR)
17 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer,(JS) the Holy One of Israel(JT) says:
I am Yahweh your God,
who teaches you for your benefit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had paid attention to My commands.
Then your peace would have been like a river,(JU)
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.(JV)
19 Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,(JW)
and the offspring of your body like its grains;
their name would not be cut off
or eliminated from My presence.
20 Leave Babylon,
flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with a shout of joy,
proclaim this,
let it go out to the end of the earth;
announce,
“The Lord has redeemed His servant(JX) Jacob!”
21 They did not thirst
when He led them through the deserts;
He made water flow for them from the rock;(JY)
He split the rock, and water gushed out.
22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.(JZ)
The Servant Brings Salvation
49 Coastlands,[bg] listen to me;
distant peoples, pay attention.
The Lord called(KA) me before I was born.
He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.(KB)
2 He made my words like a sharp sword;(KC)
He hid me in the shadow of His hand.(KD)
He made me like a sharpened arrow;
He hid me in His quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are My Servant, Israel;(KE)
I will be glorified in him.”
4 But I myself said: I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;
yet my vindication is with the Lord,
and my reward is with my God.
5 And now, says the Lord,
who formed me from the womb to be His Servant,
to bring Jacob back to Him
so that Israel might be gathered to Him;
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
and my God is my strength—
6 He says,
“It is not enough for you to be My Servant
raising up the tribes of Jacob
and restoring the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make you a light for the nations,(KF)
to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.”(KG)
7 This is what the Lord,
the Redeemer(KH) of Israel, his Holy One, says
to one who is despised,
to one abhorred by people,[bh](KI)
to a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and stand up,
and princes[bi] will bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel(KJ)—and He has chosen you.”(KK)
8 This is what the Lord says:
I will answer you in a time of favor,
and I will help you in the day of salvation.(KL)
I will keep you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people,(KM)
to restore the land,
to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
9 saying to the prisoners: Come out,(KN)
and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves.
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.(KO)
10 They will not hunger or thirst,
the scorching heat or sun will not strike them;
for their compassionate One will guide them,
and lead them to springs of water.(KP)
11 I will make all My mountains into a road,
and My highways will be raised up.(KQ)
12 See, these will come from far away,
from the north and from the west,[bj](KR)
and from the land of Sinim.[bk][bl]
13 Shout for joy, you heavens!(KS)
Earth, rejoice!
Mountains break into joyful shouts!
For the Lord has comforted His people,(KT)
and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.(KU)
Zion Remembered
14 Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;
The Lord has forgotten me!”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;(KV)
your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your builders[bm] hurry;
those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.
18 Look up, and look around.
They all gather together; they come to you.(KW)
As I live”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“you will wear all your children[bn] as jewelry,
and put them on as a bride does.
19 For your waste and desolate places
and your land marked by ruins—
will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants,(KX)
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 Yet as you listen, the children
that you have been deprived of will say,
‘This place is too small for me;
make room for me so that I may settle.’(KY)
21 Then you will say within yourself,
‘Who fathered these for me?
I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
exiled and wandering—
but who brought them up?
See, I was left by myself—
but these, where did they come from?’”[bo]
22 This is what the Lord God says:
Look, I will lift up My hand to the nations,
and raise My banner to the peoples.(KZ)
They will bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.(LA)
23 Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens[bp] your nursing mothers.(LB)
They will bow down to you
with their faces to the ground,
and lick the dust at your feet.(LC)
Then you will know that I am Yahweh;(LD)
those who put their hope in Me
will not be put to shame.(LE)
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of the righteous[bq] be delivered?
25 For this is what the Lord says:
“Even the captives of a mighty man will be taken,
and the prey of a tyrant will be delivered;
I will contend with the one who contends with you,
and I will save your children.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,(LF)
and they will be drunk with their own blood
as with sweet wine.
Then all flesh will know
that I, Yahweh, am your Savior,(LG)
and your Redeemer,(LH) the Mighty One of Jacob.”(LI)
50 This is what the Lord says:
Where is your mother’s divorce certificate
that I used to send her away?(LJ)
Or who were My creditors that I sold you to?(LK)
Look, you were sold for your iniquities,(LL)
and your mother was put away
because of your transgressions.
2 Why was no one there when I came?
Why was there no one to answer when I called?
Is My hand too short to redeem?(LM)
Or do I have no power to deliver?
Look, I dry up the sea by My rebuke;(LN)
I turn the rivers into a wilderness;
their fish rot because of lack of water
and die of thirst.
3 I dress the heavens in black
and make sackcloth their clothing.(LO)
The Obedient Servant
4 The Lord God has given Me
the tongue of those who are instructed(LP)
to know how to sustain the weary with a word.
He awakens Me each morning;
He awakens My ear to listen like those being instructed.(LQ)
5 The Lord God has opened My ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I did not turn back.(LR)
6 I gave My back to those who beat Me,
and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard.
I did not hide My face from scorn and spitting.(LS)
7 The Lord God will help Me;
therefore I have not been humiliated;
therefore I have set My face like flint,(LT)
and I know I will not be put to shame.
8 The One who vindicates Me is near;(LU)
who will contend with Me?
Let us confront each other.[br]
Who has a case against Me?[bs]
Let him come near Me!
9 In truth, the Lord God will help Me;
who will condemn Me?(LV)
Indeed, all of them will wear out like a garment;
a moth will devour them.(LW)
10 Who among you fears the Lord,
listening to the voice of His Servant?(LX)
Who among you walks in darkness,
and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of Yahweh;
let him lean on his God.
11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,
who encircle yourselves with[bt] firebrands;
walk in the light of your fire
and in the firebrands you have lit!
This is what you’ll get from My hand:
you will lie down in a place of torment.
Salvation for Zion
51 Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain.
When I called him, he was only one;
I blessed him and made him many.(LY)
3 For the Lord will comfort Zion;(LZ)
He will comfort all her waste places,
and He will make her wilderness like Eden,(MA)
and her desert like the garden of the Lord.(MB)
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and melodious song.
4 Pay attention to Me, My people,
and listen to Me, My nation;
for instruction will come from Me,
and My justice for a light to the nations.(MC)
I will bring it about quickly.
5 My righteousness is near,(MD)
My salvation appears,
and My arms will bring justice to the nations.(ME)
The coastlands[bu] will put their hope in Me,
and they will look to My strength.[bv]
6 Look up to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants will die like gnats.[bw](MF)
But My salvation will last forever,(MG)
and My righteousness will never be shattered.
7 Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is My instruction:(MH)
do not fear disgrace by men,
and do not be shattered by their taunts.
8 For the moth will devour them like a garment,(MI)
and the worm will eat them like wool.(MJ)
But My righteousness will last forever,
and My salvation for all generations.
9 Wake up, wake up!
Put on the strength of the Lord’s power.
Wake up as in days past,
as in generations of long ago.
Wasn’t it You who hacked Rahab to pieces,(MK)
who pierced the sea monster?(ML)
10 Wasn’t it You who dried up the sea,(MM)
the waters of the great deep,
who made the sea-bed into a road
for the redeemed to pass over?(MN)
11 And the redeemed of the Lord will return(MO)
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.
12 I—I am the One who comforts you.
Who are you that you should fear man who dies,(MP)
or a son of man who is given up like grass?(MQ)
13 But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.(MR)
You are in constant dread all day long
because of the fury of the oppressor,
who has set himself to destroy.
But where is the fury of the oppressor?(MS)
14 The prisoner[bx] is soon to be set free;
he will not die and go to the Pit,
and his food will not be lacking.
15 For I am Yahweh your God
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar(MT)—
His name is Yahweh of Hosts.
16 I have put My words in your mouth,(MU)
and covered you in the shadow of My hand,(MV)
in order to plant[by] the heavens,
to found the earth,
and to say to Zion, “You are My people.”
17 Wake yourself, wake yourself up!
Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk the cup of His fury(MW)
from the hand of the Lord;
you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs—
the cup that causes people to stagger.
18 There is no one to guide her
among all the children she has raised;
there is no one to take hold of her hand
among all the offspring she has brought up.
19 These two things have happened to you:(MX)
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword.
Who will grieve for you?
How can I[bz] comfort you?
20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net.
They are full of the Lord’s fury,
the rebuke of your God.
21 So listen to this, afflicted
and drunken one—but not with wine.(MY)
22 This is what your Lord says—
Yahweh, even your God,
who defends His people(MZ)—
“Look, I have removed
the cup of staggering from your hand;
that goblet, the cup of My fury.
You will never drink it again.
23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
who said to you:(NA)
Lie down, so we can walk over you.
You made your back like the ground,
and like a street for those who walk on it.
52 “Wake up, wake up;
put on your strength, Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,(NB)
Jerusalem, the Holy City!(NC)
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.(ND)
2 Stand up, shake the dust off yourself!
Take your seat, Jerusalem.
Remove the bonds[ca] from your neck,
captive Daughter Zion.”
3 For this is what the Lord says:
“You were sold for nothing,
and you will be redeemed without silver.”(NE)
4 For this is what the Lord God says:
“At first My people went down to Egypt to live there,(NF)
then Assyria oppressed them without cause.[cb]
5 So now what have I here”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“that My people are taken away for nothing?
Its rulers wail”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.(NG)
6 Therefore My people will know My name;(NH)
therefore they will know on that day
that I am He who says:
Here I am.”
7 How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the herald,
who proclaims peace,
who brings news of good things,(NI)
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”(NJ)
8 The voices of your watchmen(NK)—
they lift up their voices,
shouting for joy together;
for every eye will see
when the Lord returns to Zion.
9 Be joyful, rejoice together,
you ruins of Jerusalem!(NL)
For the Lord has comforted His people;(NM)
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has displayed His holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;(NN)
all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.(NO)
11 Leave, leave, go out from there!(NP)
Do not touch anything unclean;
go out from her, purify yourselves,(NQ)
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you will not leave in a hurry,(NR)
and you will not have to take flight;
because the Lord is going before you,(NS)
and the God of Israel is your rear guard.(NT)
The Servant’s Suffering and Exaltation
13 See, My Servant[cc](NU) will act wisely;[cd]
He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.(NV)
14 Just as many were appalled at You[ce]—
His appearance was so disfigured
that He did not look like a man,
and His form did not resemble a human being—
15 so He will sprinkle[cf][cg] many nations.[ch](NW)
Kings will shut their mouths because of Him,
For they will see what had not been told them,
and they will understand what they had not heard.(NX)
53 Who has believed what we have heard?[ci]
And who has the arm of the Lord(NY) been revealed to?(NZ)
2 He grew up before Him like a young plant(OA)
and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn’t have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at Him,
no appearance that we should desire Him.(OB)
3 He was despised and rejected by men,(OC)
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.(OD)
He was like someone people turned away from;[cj]
He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.
4 Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;(OE)
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God,(OF) and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions,(OG)
crushed because of our iniquities;(OH)
punishment(OI) for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.(OJ)
6 We all went astray like sheep;(OK)
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished Him
for[ck] the iniquity(OL) of us all.(OM)
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet He did not open His mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
He did not open His mouth.(ON)
8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
and who considered His fate?[cl]
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
He was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
9 They[cm] made His grave with the wicked
and with a rich man at His death,(OO)
although He had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.(OP)
10 Yet the Lord was pleased(OQ) to crush Him severely.[cn](OR)
When[co] You make Him a restitution offering,(OS)
He will see His seed, He will prolong His days,
and by His hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished.(OT)
11 He will see it[cp] out of His anguish,
and He will be satisfied with His knowledge.
My righteous(OU) Servant(OV) will justify many,(OW)
and He will carry their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give Him[cq] the many as a portion,
and He will receive[cr] the mighty as spoil,
because He submitted Himself to death,(OX)
and was counted among the rebels;(OY)
yet He bore the sin of many(OZ)
and interceded for the rebels.(PA)
Future Glory for Israel
54 “Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!(PB)
For the children of the forsaken one will be more
than the children of the married woman,”(PC)
says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let your tent curtains be stretched out;(PD)
do not hold back;
lengthen your ropes,
and drive your pegs deep.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left,(PE)
and your descendants will dispossess nations
and inhabit the desolate cities.
4 “Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;(PF)
don’t be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced.
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
and you will no longer remember
the disgrace of your widowhood.(PG)
5 Indeed, your husband is your Maker(PH)—
His name is Yahweh of Hosts—
and the Holy One of Israel(PI) is your Redeemer;(PJ)
He is called the God of all the earth.
6 For the Lord has called you,
like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,(PK)
a wife of one’s youth(PL) when she is rejected,”
says your God.
7 “I deserted you for a brief moment,(PM)
but I will take you back with great compassion.
8 In a surge of anger
I hid My face(PN) from you for a moment,
but I will have compassion on you
with everlasting love,”(PO)
says the Lord your Redeemer.
9 “For this is like the days[cs] of Noah to Me:
when I swore that the waters of Noah
would never flood the earth again,(PP)
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
or rebuke you.(PQ)
10 Though the mountains move
and the hills shake,
My love will not be removed from you
and My covenant of peace(PR) will not be shaken,”
says your compassionate Lord.
11 “Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
I will set your stones in black mortar,[ct]
and lay your foundations in sapphires.[cu](PS)
12 I will make your fortifications[cv] out of rubies,
your gates out of sparkling stones,
and all your walls out of precious stones.
13 Then all your children will be taught by the Lord,(PT)
their prosperity will be great,
14 and you will be established
on a foundation of righteousness.
You will be far from oppression,
you will certainly not be afraid;
you will be far from terror,
it will certainly not come near you.
15 If anyone attacks you,
it is not from Me;
whoever attacks you
will fall before you.
16 Look, I have created the craftsman
who blows on the charcoal fire
and produces a weapon suitable for its task;
and I have created the destroyer to cause havoc.
17 No weapon formed against you will succeed,
and you will refute any accusation[cw]
raised against you in court.
This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,(PU)
and their righteousness is from Me.”(PV)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Come to the Lord
55 “Come, everyone who is thirsty,(PW)
come to the waters;
and you without money,
come, buy, and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost!
2 Why do you spend money on what is not food,
and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.[cx]
3 Pay attention and come to Me;
listen, so that you will live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,(PX)
the promises assured to David.(PY)
4 Since I have made him a witness to the peoples,(PZ)
a leader and commander for the peoples,(QA)
5 so you will summon a nation you do not know,(QB)
and nations who do not know you will run to you.(QC)
For the Lord your God,
even the Holy One of Israel,(QD)
has glorified you.”(QE)
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found;
call to Him while He is near.(QF)
7 Let the wicked one abandon his way
and the sinful one his thoughts;(QG)
let him return to the Lord,
so He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will freely forgive.(QH)
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,(QI)
so My ways are higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven
and do not return there
without saturating the earth
and making it germinate and sprout,
and providing seed to sow
and food to eat,(QJ)
11 so My word that comes from My mouth
will not return to Me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”(QK)
12 You will indeed go out with joy
and be peacefully guided;
the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.(QL)
13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up,
and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up;(QM)
it will make a name for Yahweh(QN)
as an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.
A House of Prayer for All
56 This is what the Lord says:
Preserve justice and do what is right,(QO)
for My salvation is coming soon,
and My righteousness will be revealed.(QP)
2 Happy is the man who does this,
anyone who maintains this,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.(QQ)
3 No foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord
should say,
“The Lord will exclude me from His people”;(QR)
and the eunuch should not say,
“Look, I am a dried-up tree.”(QS)
4 For the Lord says this:
“For the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
and choose what pleases Me,
and hold firmly to My covenant,
5 I will give them, in My house and within My walls,
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters.
I will give each of them an everlasting name
that will never be cut off.(QT)
6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord
minister to Him, love the name of Yahweh
and become His servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold firmly to My covenant—
7 I will bring them to My holy mountain(QU)
and let them rejoice in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on My altar,(QV)
for My house will be called a house of prayer
for all nations.”(QW)
8 This is the declaration of the Lord God,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will gather to them still others
besides those already gathered.”(QX)
Unrighteous Leaders Condemned
9 All you animals of the field and forest,
come and eat!
10 Israel’s[cy] watchmen are blind, all of them,
they know nothing;
all of them are mute dogs,
they cannot bark;
they dream, lie down,
and love to sleep.
11 These dogs have fierce appetites;
they never have enough.
And they are shepherds
who have no discernment;
all of them turn to their own way,
every last one for his own gain.(QY)
12 “Come, let me get some wine,
let’s guzzle some beer;
and tomorrow will be like today,
only far better!”(QZ)
57 The righteous one perishes,
and no one takes it to heart;
faithful men are swept away,
with no one realizing
that the righteous one is swept away
from the presence[cz] of evil.
2 He will enter into peace—
they will rest on their beds[da]—
everyone who lives uprightly.
Pagan Religion Denounced
3 But come here,
you sons of a sorceress,
offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute![db]
4 Who is it you are mocking?
Who is it you are opening your mouth
and sticking out your tongue at?
Isn’t it you, you rebellious children,(RA)
you race of liars,
5 who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,(RB)
who slaughter children in the wadis
below the clefts of the rocks?(RC)
6 Your portion is among the smooth stones of the wadi;
indeed, they are your lot.
You have even poured out a drink offering to them;
you have offered a grain offering;
should I be satisfied with these?
7 You have placed your bed
on a high and lofty mountain;(RD)
you also went up there to offer sacrifice.
8 You have set up your memorial
behind the door and doorpost.
For away from Me, you stripped,
went up, and made your bed wide,(RE)
and you have made a bargain[dc] for yourself with them.
You have loved their bed;
you have gazed on their genitals.[dd][de]
9 You went to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your couriers far away(RF)
and sent them down even to Sheol.
10 You became weary on your many journeys,
but you did not say, “I give up!”(RG)
You found a renewal of your strength;[df]
therefore you did not grow weak.
11 Who was it you dreaded and feared,
so that you lied and didn’t remember Me
or take it to heart?
Have I not kept silent for such a long time[dg](RH)
and you do not fear Me?
12 I will expose your righteousness,
and your works—they will not profit you.
13 When you cry out,
let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry all of them off,
a breath will take them away.
But whoever takes refuge in Me
will inherit the land(RI)
and possess My holy mountain.(RJ)
Healing and Peace
14 He said,
“Build it up, build it up, prepare the way,
remove every obstacle from My people’s way.”(RK)
15 For the High and Exalted One
who lives forever, whose name is Holy(RL) says this:
“I live in a high and holy place,
and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit,(RM)
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and revive the heart of the oppressed.(RN)
16 For I will not accuse you forever,
and I will not always be angry;(RO)
for then the spirit would grow weak before Me,
even the breath of man, which I have made.
17 Because of his sinful greed I was angry,(RP)
so I struck him; I was angry and hid;[dh]
but he went on turning back to the desires of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort
to him and his mourners,(RQ)
19 creating words of praise.”[di](RR)
The Lord says,
“Peace, peace to the one who is far or near,(RS)
and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea,(RT)
for it cannot be still,
and its waters churn up mire and muck.
21 There is no peace for the wicked,”
says my God.(RU)
True Fasting
58 “Cry out loudly,[dj] don’t hold back!
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Tell My people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek Me day after day
and delight to know My ways,
like a nation that does what is right
and does not abandon the justice of their God.
They ask Me for righteous judgments;
they delight in the nearness of God.”(RV)
3 “Why have we fasted, but You have not seen?(RW)
We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed!”[dk]
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.(RX)
4 You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.
5 Will the fast I choose be like this:
A day for a person to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?(RY)
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,(RZ)
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?(SA)
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,(SB)
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,(SC)
and not to ignore[dl] your own flesh and blood?(SD)
8 Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.(SE)
Your righteousness will go before you,(SF)
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.(SG)
9 At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer;(SH)
when you cry out, He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you get rid of the yoke among you,[dm]
the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,(SI)
10 and if you offer yourself[dn] to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness,(SJ)
and your night will be like noonday.
11 The Lord will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden(SK)
and like a spring whose waters never run dry.(SL)
12 Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins;(SM)
you will restore the foundations laid long ago;[do](SN)
you will be called the repairer of broken walls,
the restorer of streets where people live.
13 “If you keep from desecrating[dp] the Sabbath,(SO)
from doing whatever you want on My holy day;
if you call the Sabbath a delight,
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,(SP)
seeking your own pleasure, or talking too much;[dq]
14 then you will delight yourself in the Lord,(SQ)
and I will make you ride over the heights of the land,(SR)
and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(SS)
Sin and Redemption
59 Indeed, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save,(ST)
and His ear is not too deaf to hear.
2 But your iniquities(SU) have built barriers
between you and your God,
and your sins have made Him hide His face from you(SV)
so that He does not listen.(SW)
3 For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers, with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongues mutter injustice.
4 No one makes claims justly;
no one pleads honestly.
They trust in empty and worthless words;
they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.(SX)
5 They hatch viper’s eggs
and weave spider’s webs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
6 Their webs cannot become clothing,
and they cannot cover themselves with their works.
Their works are sinful works,
and violent acts are in their hands.
7 Their feet run after evil,(SY)
and they rush to shed innocent blood.(SZ)
Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;(TA)
ruin and wretchedness are in their paths.
8 They have not known the path of peace,(TB)
and there is no justice in their ways.
They have made their roads crooked;
no one who walks on them will know peace.(TC)
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we live in the night.
10 We grope along a wall like the blind;
we grope like those without eyes.(TD)
We stumble at noon as though it were twilight;
we are like the dead among those who are healthy.
11 We all growl like bears
and moan like doves.(TE)
We hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions have multiplied before You,(TF)
and our sins testify against us.(TG)
For our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:(TH)
13 transgression and deception against the Lord,
turning away from following our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.
14 Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far off.
For truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil is plundered.
The Lord saw that there was no justice,
and He was offended.
16 He saw that there was no man—
He was amazed that there was no one interceding;(TI)
so His own arm brought salvation,
and His own righteousness supported Him.
17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on His head;(TJ)
He put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and He wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak.(TK)
18 So He will repay according to their deeds:(TL)
fury to His enemies,
retribution to His foes,
and He will repay the coastlands.
19 They will fear the name of Yahweh in the west
and His glory in the east;(TM)
for He will come like a rushing stream(TN)
driven by the wind of the Lord.
20 “The Redeemer(TO) will come to Zion,
and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.”(TP)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,”(TQ) says the Lord: “My Spirit who is on you, and My words that I have put in your mouth,(TR) will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children, or from the mouth of your children’s children, from now on and forever,” says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:2 Lit Speak to the heart of
- Isaiah 40:5 Lit flesh
- Isaiah 40:6 DSS, LXX, Vg read I
- Isaiah 40:7 Or wind, or Spirit
- Isaiah 40:7 Lit it
- Isaiah 40:13 Or measured, or comprehended
- Isaiah 40:20 Or who is too poor for such an offering, or who chooses mulberry wood as a votive gift; Hb obscure
- Isaiah 40:26 Lit Lift up your eyes on high
- Isaiah 41:2 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 41:9 Or seized
- Isaiah 41:14 LXX reads small number; DSS read dead ones
- Isaiah 41:23 DSS read we may hear
- Isaiah 41:25 DSS read his
- Isaiah 41:27 Lit First to Zion
- Isaiah 41:29 DSS, Syr read are nothing
- Isaiah 42:1 DSS read His justice
- Isaiah 42:5 Lit spirit
- Isaiah 42:6 Or you by [My] righteousness; lit you in righteousness
- Isaiah 42:10 Lit their
- Isaiah 42:19 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 42:20 Alt Hb tradition reads You see many things;
- Isaiah 42:24 Lit to loot
- Isaiah 42:25 Lit he did not put on heart
- Isaiah 43:12 Lit not a foreigner
- Isaiah 43:12 Or that
- Isaiah 43:14 Or will break down all their bars
- Isaiah 43:14 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 43:19 DSS read paths
- Isaiah 43:23 With demands for offerings and incense
- Isaiah 44:2 Lit from the womb, and He
- Isaiah 44:2 = Upright One, referring to Israel
- Isaiah 44:4 Some Hb mss, DSS, LXX read as among
- Isaiah 44:7 Lit declare them—
- Isaiah 44:14 Lit To cut down for himself
- Isaiah 44:18 Lit They
- Isaiah 44:18 Or for their eyes are shut
- Isaiah 44:20 Or He shepherds
- Isaiah 44:21 DSS, LXX, Tg read Israel, do not forget Me
- Isaiah 45:1 Lit unloosen the loins
- Isaiah 45:2 DSS, LXX read the mountains
- Isaiah 45:5 Lit gird
- Isaiah 45:9 Lit a clay pot with clay pots of the ground
- Isaiah 45:9 Or making? Your work has no hands.
- Isaiah 45:11 Or Me the coming things about
- Isaiah 45:14 Lit pray
- Isaiah 45:21 Lit and approach
- Isaiah 46:8 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 46:11 = Cyrus
- Isaiah 47:3 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 47:11 Or to atone for it
- Isaiah 47:13 Lit dividers of the heavens
- Isaiah 47:14 Lit hand
- Isaiah 48:1 Lit have come from the waters of
- Isaiah 48:4 Lit is an iron sinew
- Isaiah 48:10 Or chosen
- Isaiah 48:11 DSS, Syr; MT reads it
- Isaiah 48:14 Lit among them
- Isaiah 48:14 = Cyrus
- Isaiah 49:1 Or Islands
- Isaiah 49:7 Or by the nation
- Isaiah 49:7 Lit princes and they
- Isaiah 49:12 Lit sea
- Isaiah 49:12 DSS read of the Syenites
- Isaiah 49:12 Perhaps modern Aswan in southern Egypt
- Isaiah 49:17 DSS, Aq, Theod, Vg; MT, Syr, Sym read sons
- Isaiah 49:18 Lit all of them
- Isaiah 49:21 Lit where are they
- Isaiah 49:23 Lit princesses
- Isaiah 49:24 DSS, Syr, Vg read fearsome one, or tyrant
- Isaiah 50:8 Lit us stand
- Isaiah 50:8 Lit Who is lord of My judgment
- Isaiah 50:11 Syr reads who set ablaze
- Isaiah 51:5 Or islands
- Isaiah 51:5 Lit arm
- Isaiah 51:6 Or die in like manner
- Isaiah 51:14 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 51:16 Syr reads to stretch out
- Isaiah 51:19 DSS, LXX, Syr, Vg read you? Who can
- Isaiah 52:2 Alt Hb tradition reads The bonds are removed
- Isaiah 52:4 Or them at last, or them for nothing
- Isaiah 52:13 Tg adds the Messiah
- Isaiah 52:13 Or will be successful
- Isaiah 52:14 Some Hb mss, Syr, Tg read Him
- Isaiah 52:15 Or startle
- Isaiah 52:15 As the blood of a sacrifice is sprinkled on the altar on behalf of the people
- Isaiah 52:15 LXX reads so many nations will marvel at Him
- Isaiah 53:1 Or believed our report
- Isaiah 53:3 Lit And like a hiding of faces from Him
- Isaiah 53:6 Or has placed on Him; lit with
- Isaiah 53:8 Or and as for His generation, who considered [Him]?
- Isaiah 53:9 DSS; MT reads He
- Isaiah 53:10 Or Him; He made Him sick.
- Isaiah 53:10 Or If
- Isaiah 53:11 DSS, LXX read see light
- Isaiah 53:12 Or Him with
- Isaiah 53:12 Or receive with
- Isaiah 54:9 DSS, Cairo Geniza; MT, LXX read waters
- Isaiah 54:11 Lit in antimony
- Isaiah 54:11 Or lapis lazuli
- Isaiah 54:12 Lit suns; perhaps shields; Ps 84:11
- Isaiah 54:17 Lit refute every tongue
- Isaiah 55:2 Lit enjoy fatness
- Isaiah 56:10 Or His, or Its
- Isaiah 57:1 Or away because
- Isaiah 57:2 Either their deathbeds or their graves
- Isaiah 57:3 Lit and she acted as a prostitute
- Isaiah 57:8 Lit you cut
- Isaiah 57:8 Lit hand
- Isaiah 57:8 In Hb, the word hand is probably a euphemism for “genitals.”
- Isaiah 57:10 Lit found life of your hand
- Isaiah 57:11 LXX reads And I, when I see you, I pass by
- Isaiah 57:17 Lit him; hiding and I am angry
- Isaiah 57:19 Lit creating fruit of the lips
- Isaiah 58:1 Lit with throat
- Isaiah 58:3 These are Israel’s words to God.
- Isaiah 58:7 Lit not hide yourself from
- Isaiah 58:9 Lit yoke from your midst
- Isaiah 58:10 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr read offer your bread
- Isaiah 58:12 Lit foundations generation and generation
- Isaiah 58:13 Lit keep your foot from
- Isaiah 58:13 Lit or speak a word
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