Bible in 90 Days

²¹ “Present your case,” says Adonai,
“Produce your arguments,” says Ya‘akov’s king.

²² Bring out those idols!
Have them foretell the future for us,
tell us about past events,
so that we can reflect on them
and understand their consequences.
Or tell us about events yet to come,
²³ state what will happen in the future,
so that we can know you are gods.
At least, do something, either good or bad —
anything, to make us awestruck and fearful!
²⁴ You can’t! — because you are less than nothing.
Whoever chooses you is an abomination!

²⁵ “I roused someone from the north,
and he has come from the rising sun;
he will call on my name.
He will trample on rulers as if they were mud,
like a potter treading clay.”

²⁶ Who said this at the start, so we could know,
or foretold it, so we could say, “He’s right”?
In fact, no one said it; no one foretold it —
the fact is, nobody hears what you say.
²⁷ I am the first to declare it to Tziyon,
to send Yerushalayim a messenger with good news.
²⁸ But when I look around, there is no one —
not a single one can give counsel,
who, when I ask, can give an answer.
²⁹ Look at them all! What they do is nothing!
Their idols are so much wind and waste.

42 “Here is my servant, whom I support,
my chosen one, in whom I take pleasure.
I have put my Spirit on him;
he will bring justice to the Goyim.
² He will not cry or shout;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
³ He will not snap off a broken reed
or snuff out a smoldering wick.
He will bring forth justice according to truth;
⁴ he will not weaken or be crushed
until he has established justice on the earth,
and the coastlands wait for his Torah.”

⁵ Thus says God, Adonai,
who created the heavens and spread them out,
who stretched out the earth and all that grows from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk on it:
⁶ “I, Adonai, called you righteously,
I took hold of you by the hand,
I shaped you and made you a covenant for the people,
to be a light for the Goyim,
⁷ so that you can open blind eyes,
free the prisoners from confinement,
those living in darkness from the dungeon.
⁸ I am Adonai; that is my name.
I yield my glory to no one else,
nor my praise to any idol.
⁹ See how the former predictions come true;
and now new things do I declare —
before they sprout I tell you about them.”

¹⁰ Sing to Adonai a new song!
Let his praise be sung from the ends of the earth
by those sailing the sea and by everything in it,
by the coastlands and those living there.
¹¹ Let the desert and its cities raise their voices,
the villages where Kedar lives;
let those living in Sela shout for joy;
let them cry out from the mountaintops!
¹² Let them give glory to Adonai
and proclaim his praise in the coastlands.
¹³ Adonai will go out like a soldier,
like a soldier roused to the fury of battle;
he will shout, yes, he raises the battle cry;
as he triumphs over his foes.

¹⁴ “For a long time I have held my peace,
I have been silent, restrained myself.
Now I will shriek like a woman in labor,
panting and gasping for air.
¹⁵ I will devastate mountains and hills,
wither all their vegetation,
turn the rivers into islands
and dry up the lakes.
¹⁶ The blind I will lead on a road they don’t know,
on roads they don’t know I will lead them;
I will turn darkness to light before them,
and straighten their twisted paths.
These are things I will do without fail.
¹⁷ Those who trust in idols,
who say to statues, ‘You are our gods,’
will be repulsed in utter shame.
¹⁸ Listen, you deaf! Look, you blind! —
so that you will see!
¹⁹ Who is as blind as my servant,
or as deaf as the messenger I send?
Who is as blind as the one I rewarded,
as blind as the servant of Adonai?”

²⁰ You see much but don’t pay attention;
you open your ears, but you don’t listen.
²¹ Adonai was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
to make the Torah great and glorious.
²² But this is a people pillaged and plundered,
all trapped in holes and sequestered in prisons.
They are there to be plundered, with no one to rescue them;
there to be pillaged, and no one says, “Return them!”
²³ Which of you will listen to this?
Who will hear and give heed in the times to come?
²⁴ Who gave Ya‘akov to be pillaged,
Isra’el to the plunderers?
Didn’t Adonai, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they refused to walk,
he whose Torah they did not obey?
²⁵ This is why he poured on him his blazing anger
as well as the fury of battle —
it wrapped him in flames, yet he learned nothing;
it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart.

43 But now this is what Adonai says,
he who created you, Ya‘akov,
he who formed you, Isra’el:
“Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you;
I am calling you by your name; you are mine.
² When you pass through water, I will be with you;
when you pass through rivers, they will not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire, you will not be scorched —
the flame will not burn you.
³ For I am Adonai, your God,
the Holy One of Isra’el, your Savior —
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and S’va for you.
⁴ Because I regard you as valued and honored,
and because I love you.
For you I will give people,
nations in exchange for your life.
⁵ Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bring your descendants from the east,
and I will gather you from the west;
⁶ I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Don’t hold them back!
Bring my sons from far away,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth,
⁷ everyone who bears my name,
whom I created for my glory —
I formed him, yes, I made him.’”

⁸ Bring forward the people who are blind but have eyes,
also the deaf who have ears.
⁹ All the nations are gathered together,
and the peoples are assembled.
Who among them can proclaim this
and reveal what happened in the past?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify themselves,
so that others, on hearing, can say, “That’s true.”

¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” says Adonai,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you can know and trust me
and understand that I am he —
no god was produced before me,
nor will any be after me.
¹¹ I, yes I, am Adonai;
besides me there is no deliverer.
¹² I have declared, saved and proclaimed —
not some alien god among you.
Therefore you are my witnesses,”
says Adonai. “I am God.
¹³ Since days began, I have been he.
No one can deliver from my hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?”

¹⁴ Here is what Adonai, your redeemer,
the Holy One of Isra’el, says:
“For your sake I have sent [an army] to Bavel
and knocked down the fleeing Kasdim, all of them;
their songs of triumph are now lamentations.
¹⁵ I am Adonai, your Holy One,
the Creator of Isra’el, your King.”

¹⁶ Here is what Adonai says,
who made a way in the sea,
a path through the raging waves;
¹⁷ who led out chariot and horse,
the army in its strength —
they lay down, never to rise again,
snuffed out and quenched like a wick:
¹⁸ “Stop dwelling on past events
and brooding over times gone by;
¹⁹ I am doing something new;
it’s springing up — can’t you see it?
I am making a road in the desert,
rivers in the wasteland.
²⁰ The wild animals will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches;
because I put water in the desert,
rivers in the wasteland,
for my chosen people to drink,
²¹ the people I formed for myself,
so that they would proclaim my praise.
²² But you haven’t called on me, Ya‘akov;
because you have grown weary of me, Isra’el.
²³ You have not brought me sheep for your burnt offerings,
you have not honored me with your sacrifices.
I didn’t burden you by requiring grain offerings.
or weary you by demanding frankincense.
²⁴ You have not spent money to buy me sweet cane
or filled me with the fat of your sacrifices.
Instead, you have burdened me with your sins
and wearied me with your crimes.
²⁵ I, yes I, am the one who blots out
your offenses for my own sake;
I will not remember your sins.
²⁶ Remind me when we’re in court together —
tell your side, make the case that you are right.
²⁷ Your first father sinned,
and your spokesmen rebelled against me.
²⁸ Therefore I repudiated the officials of the sanctuary,
delivered Ya‘akov to the curse of destruction,
and subjected Isra’el to scorn.

44 “Now listen, Ya‘akov my servant,
Isra’el whom I have chosen:
² Thus says Adonai, who made you,
formed you in the womb, and will help you:
Don’t be afraid, Ya‘akov my servant,
Yeshurun, whom I have chosen.
³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit on your descendants,
my blessing on your offspring.
⁴ They will spring up among the grass
like willows on the riverbanks.
⁵ One will say, ‘I belong to Adonai.’
Another will be called by the name of Ya‘akov.
Yet another will write that he belongs to Adonai.
and adopt the surname Isra’el.”

⁶ Thus says Adonai, Isra’el’s King
and Redeemer, Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“I am the first, and I am the last;
besides me there is no God.
⁷ Who is like me? Let him speak out!
Let him show me clearly what has been happening
since I set up the eternal people;
let him foretell future signs and events.
⁸ Don’t be frightened, don’t be afraid —
Didn’t I tell you this long ago?
I foretold it, and you are my witnesses.
Is there any God besides me?
There is no other Rock — I know of none.”

⁹ All idol-makers amount to nothing;
their precious productions profit no one;
and their witnesses, to their own shame,
neither see nor understand.
¹⁰ Who would fashion a god or cast an image
that profits no one anything?
¹¹ All involved will be ashamed,
but more than anyone else, the people who made them.
Let them all be assembled, let them stand up;
let them fear and be shamed together.

¹² A blacksmith makes a tool over burning coals;
with his strong arm he shapes it with hammers.
But when he gets hungry, his strength fails;
if he doesn’t drink water, he grows tired.

¹³ A carpenter takes his measurements,
sketches the shape with a stylus,
planes the wood, checks it with calipers,
and carves it into the shape of a man;
and, since it is honored like a man,
of course it has to live in a house.
¹⁴ He goes to chop down cedars;
he takes an evergreen and an oak;
he especially tends one tree in the forest,
plants a pine for the rain to nourish.
¹⁵ In time, when it’s ready for use as fuel,
he takes some of it to keep himself warm
and burns some more to bake bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it,
carves it into an idol and falls down before it.
¹⁶ So half of it he burns in the fire;
with that half he roasts meat and eats his fill;
he warms himself; says, “It feels so good,
getting warm while watching the flames!”
¹⁷ With the rest of the log he fashions a god,
a carved image, then falls down before it;
he worships it and prays to it.
“Save me,” he says, “for you are my god!”

¹⁸ Such people know nothing, understand nothing.
Their eyes are sealed shut, so that they can’t see;
their hearts too, so they can’t understand.
¹⁹ Not one thinks to himself or has the knowledge
or the discernment to say,
“I burned half of it in the fire,
baked bread on its coals, roasted meat and ate it.
Should I now make the rest an abomination?
Should I prostrate myself to a tree trunk?”
²⁰ He is relying on ashes!
A deceived heart has led him astray;
so that now he won’t save himself, just won’t say,
“This thing in my hand is a fraud!”

²¹ “Keep these matters in mind, Ya‘akov,
for you, Isra’el, are my servant.
I formed you, you are my own servant;
Isra’el, don’t forget me.
²² Like a thick cloud, I wipe away your offenses;
like a cloud, your sins.
Come back to me, for I have redeemed you.”

²³ Sing, you heavens, for Adonai has done it!
Shout, you depths of the earth!
Mountains, break out into song,
along with every tree in the forest!
For Adonai has redeemed Ya‘akov;
he glorifies himself in Isra’el.

²⁴ Here is what Adonai says, your Redeemer,
he who formed you in the womb:
“I am Adonai, who makes all things,
who stretched out the heavens all alone,
who spread out the earth all by myself.
²⁵ I frustrate false prophets and their omens,
I make fools of diviners,
I drive back the sages
and make their wisdom look silly.
²⁶ I confirm my servants’ prophecies
and make my messengers’ plans succeed.
I say of Yerushalayim: ‘She will be lived in,’
of the cities of Y’hudah, ‘They will be rebuilt;
I will restore their ruins.’
²⁷ I say to the deep sea, ‘Dry up!
I will make your streams run dry.’
²⁸ I say of Koresh, ‘He is my shepherd,
he will do everything I want.
He will say of Yerushalayim,
“You will be rebuilt,”
and of the temple,
“Your foundation will be laid.”’”

45 Thus says Adonai to Koresh, his anointed,
whose right hand he has grasped,
so that he subdues nations before him
and strips kings of their robes,
so that doors open in front of him,
and no gates are barred:
² “I will go ahead of you,
levelling the hills,
shattering the bronze gates,
smashing the iron bars.
³ I will give you treasures
hoarded in the dark,
secret riches hidden away,
so that you will know that I, Adonai,
calling you by your name,
am the God of Isra’el.
⁴ It is for the sake of Ya‘akov my servant,
yes, for Isra’el my elect,
that I call you by your name
and give you a title, although you don’t know me.
⁵ I am Adonai; there is no other;
besides me there is no God.
I am arming you, although you don’t know me,
⁶ so that those from the east and those from the west
will know that there is none besides me —
I am Adonai; there is no other.
⁷ I form light, I create darkness;
I make well-being, I create woe;
I, Adonai, do all these things.

⁸ “Heavens above, rain down justice;
let the clouds pour it down.
Let the earth open,
so that salvation springs up,
and justice sprouts with it.
I, Adonai, have created it.”

⁹ Woe to anyone who argues with his maker,
like potsherds lying on the ground!
Does the clay ask the potter, “What are you doing?”
or, “What’s this you’re making, that has no hands?”
¹⁰ Woe to him who asks a father,
“Of what are you the father?”
or who asks a woman,
“To what are you giving birth?”

¹¹ Thus says Adonai,
the Holy One of Isra’el, his Maker:
“You ask for signs concerning my children?
You give orders concerning the work of my hands?
¹² I am the one who made the earth!
I created human beings on it!
I — my hands — stretched out the heavens,
and directed all their number.
¹³ I am stirring up Koresh to righteousness,
I am smoothing out all his paths.
He will rebuild my city;
and he will free my exiles,
taking neither ransom nor bribe,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

¹⁴ Here is what Adonai says:
“The earnings of Egypt, the commerce of Ethiopia,
and men of stature from S’va
will come over to you and become yours;
they will come in chains and follow you.
They will prostrate themselves before you;
they will pray to you:
‘Surely God is with you; there is no other,
other gods are nothing.’”

¹⁵ Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
God of Isra’el, Savior!
¹⁶ The idol-makers will be ashamed,
disgraced, all of them;
they will go dishonored together.
¹⁷ But Isra’el, saved by Adonai
with an everlasting salvation,
you will never, ever, be ashamed or disgraced.

¹⁸ For thus says Adonai, who created the heavens,
God, who shaped and made the earth,
who established and created it not to be chaos,
but formed it to be lived in:
“I am Adonai; there is no other.
¹⁹ I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness.
I did not say to the descendants of Ya‘akov,
‘It is in vain that you will seek me.’
I, Adonai, speak rightly; I say what is true.
²⁰ Assemble, come and gather together,
you refugees from the nations!
Those carrying their wooden idols are ignorant,
they pray to a god that cannot save.
²¹ Let them stand and present their case!
Indeed, let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago,
announced it in times gone by?
Wasn’t it I, Adonai?
There is no other God besides me,
a just God and a Savior;
there is none besides me.
²² Look to me, and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God;
there is no other.
²³ In the name of myself I have sworn,
from my mouth has rightly gone out,
a word that will not return —
that to me every knee will bow
and every tongue will swear ²⁴ about me
that only in Adonai
are justice and strength.”

All who rage against him
will come to him ashamed,
²⁵ but all the descendants of Isra’el
will find justice and glory in Adonai.

46 Bel bows down, N’vo stoops low;
their idols are borne by animals, beasts of burden.
The loads you yourselves were carrying
are now burdening tired animals.
² They stoop and bow down together;
they cannot save the burden,
but themselves go into captivity.

³ “Listen to me, house of Ya‘akov,
all who remain of the house of Isra’el:
I have borne you from birth,
carried you since the womb.
⁴ Till your old age I will be the same —
I will carry you until your hair is white.
I have made you, and I will bear you;
yes, I will carry and save you.
⁵ To whom will you liken me and equate me?
With whom will you compare me, as if we were similar?”

⁶ They squander the gold from their bags
and weigh silver on a scale;
they hire a goldsmith to make a god,
before which they fall down and worship!
⁷ It is borne on shoulders and carried,
then set in its place; and there it stands.
From its place it does not move.
If one cries to it, it cannot answer
or save anyone from his troubles.
⁸ Remember this, and stand firm.
Keep it in mind, you rebels.

⁹ “Remember things that happened
at the beginning, long ago —
that I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
¹⁰ At the beginning I announce the end,
proclaim in advance things not yet done;
and I say that my plan will hold,
I will do everything I please to do.
¹¹ I call a bird of prey from the east,
the man I intended, from a distant country.
I have spoken and will bring it about;
I have made a plan, and I will fulfill it.
¹² Listen to me, you stubborn people,
so far from righteousness:
¹³ I am bringing my justice nearer,
it is not far away;
my salvation will not be delayed,
I will place my salvation in Tziyon
for Isra’el my glory.

47 “Come down, and sit in the dust,
you virgin daughter of Bavel!
Sit on the ground, not on a throne,
daughter of the Kasdim!
No longer are you to be called
dainty and delicate.
² Take the millstones, and grind meal;
take off your veil, strip off your skirt,
uncover your legs, wade through the streams.
³ Your private parts will be exposed;
yes, your shame will be seen.
I am going to take vengeance,
and no one will stand in my way.”

⁴ Our Redeemer! Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name,
the Holy One of Isra’el!

⁵ “Sit there speechless, go into darkness,
you daughter of the Kasdim!
For you will no longer be called
the mistress of kingdoms.
⁶ I was angry with my people,
I desecrated my own possession
and gave them over to you.
But you showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy,
even upon the aged.
⁷ You said, ‘I will be mistress forever.’
so you didn’t consider these things
or think about the consequences.
⁸ Now hear this, you lover of luxuries,
lolling at ease and saying to yourself,
‘I am important, and no one else!
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.’
⁹ But both will come over you in an instant,
in a single day loss of children and widowhood;
they will utterly overwhelm you,
despite your many occult practices
and powerful spells to prevent it.”

¹⁰ You were at ease in your wickedness,
you thought, “No one sees me.”
Your “wisdom” and “knowledge” perverted you,
as you thought to yourself,
“I am important, and no one else.”
¹¹ Yet disaster will befall you,
and you won’t know how to charm it away;
calamity will come upon you,
and you won’t be able to turn it aside;
ruin will overcome you,
suddenly, before you know it.
¹² So for now, keep on with your powerful spells
and your many occult practices;
from childhood you have been working at them;
maybe they will do you some good,
maybe you will inspire terror!
¹³ You are worn out with all your consultations —
so let the astrologers and stargazers,
the monthly horoscope-makers,
come forward now and save you
from the things that will come upon you!
¹⁴ Look, they will be like straw!
The fire will consume them.
They will not save even themselves
from the power of the flame.
It will not be coals for warming oneself,
not a fire to sit beside!
¹⁵ So much for your [wizards],
with whom you have worked all your life!
Each will wander off in his own direction,
and nobody will save you.

48 Listen to this, house of Ya‘akov,
called by the name of Isra’el,
who have come from the spring of Y’hudah,
who swear by the name of Adonai
and invoke the God of Isra’el! —
it is not sincerely or justifiably
² that they call themselves people of the holy city
or rely on the God of Isra’el —
Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name:

³ “I announced things that happened at the beginning, long ago;
they issued from my mouth, I proclaimed them.
Then suddenly I acted, and they occurred.
⁴ Because I knew that you were stubborn,
your neck an iron sinew, your forehead bronze,
⁵ I announced it to you long ago;
before it occurred, I proclaimed it to you;
so that you could not say, ‘My idol did it;
my carved image, my statue, gave the order for it.’
⁶ You have heard and seen all this,
so why won’t you admit it?

“Now I am announcing new things to you,
secret things you have not known,
⁷ created now, not long ago;
before today, you did not hear them:
so you can’t say, ‘I already know about them.’
⁸ No, you haven’t heard, and you haven’t known;
these things have not reached your ears before.
For I knew how treacherous you were —
you were called a rebel from the womb.
⁹ Yet for the sake of my own reputation
I am deferring my anger;
for the sake of my praise I am patient with you,
so as not to cut you off.

¹⁰ “Look, I have refined you,
but not [as severely] as silver;
[rather] I have tested you
in the furnace of affliction.
¹¹ For my sake I will do it,
for my own sake.
I will not let [my reputation] be tarnished;
I will not yield my glory to anyone else.
¹² “Listen to me, Ya‘akov;
Isra’el, whom I have called:
I am he who is first;
I am also the last.
¹³ My hand laid the foundation of the earth,
my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summoned them,
at once they rose into being.

¹⁴ “All of you, assemble and listen:
which of you has foretold what is coming?
Adonai’s friend will do his will against Bavel,
using his arm against the Kasdim.
¹⁵ It is I who have spoken,
I have summoned him,
I have brought him,
and he will succeed.

¹⁶ “Come close to me, and listen to this:
since the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
since the time things began to be, I have been there;
and now Adonai Elohim has sent me and his Spirit.”

¹⁷ Thus says Adonai, your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Isra’el:
“I am Adonai, your God,
who teaches you for your own good,
who guides you on the path you should take.
¹⁸ If only you would heed my mitzvot!
Then your peace would flow on like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹ Your descendants would be numerous as the sand,
your offspring countless as its grains.
Their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from my presence.”

²⁰ Get out of Bavel! Flee the Kasdim!
With shouts of joy announce it, proclaim it!
Send the news out to the ends of the earth!
Say, “Adonai has redeemed his servant Ya‘akov.”
²¹ They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts,
he made water flow from the rock for them —
he split the rock, and out gushed the water.
²² But there is no peace, says Adonai, for the wicked.

49 Coastlands, listen to me;
listen, you peoples far away:
Adonai called me from the womb;
before I was born, he had spoken my name.
² He has made my mouth like a sharp sword
while hiding me in the shadow of his hand;
he has made me like a sharpened arrow
while concealing me in his quiver.
³ He said to me, “You are my servant,
Isra’el, through whom I will show my glory.”

⁴ But I said, “I have toiled in vain,
spent my strength for nothing, futility.”
Yet my cause is with Adonai,
my reward is with my God.
⁵ So now Adonai says —
he formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Ya‘akov back to him,
to have Isra’el gathered to him,
so that I will be honored in the sight of Adonai,
my God having become my strength —
⁶ he has said, “It is not enough
that you are merely my servant
to raise up the tribes of Ya‘akov
and restore the offspring of Isra’el.
I will also make you a light to the nations,
so my salvation can spread to the ends of the earth.”

⁷ Here is what Adonai,
the Redeemer of Isra’el,
his Holy One, says to the one despised,
whom the nations detest, to the servant of tyrants:
“When kings see you, they will stand up;
princes too will prostrate themselves,
because of Adonai, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Isra’el, who has chosen you.”

⁸ Here is what Adonai says:
“At the time when I choose, I will answer you;
on the day of salvation, I will help you.
I have preserved you, and I have appointed you
to be the covenant for a people,
to restore the land and distribute again
its ruined inheritances to their owners,
⁹ to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out!’
to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’
They will feed along the paths,
and all the high hills will be their pastures.
¹⁰ They will be neither hungry nor thirsty;
neither scorching wind nor sun will strike them;
for he who has mercy on them will lead them
and guide them to springs of water.
¹¹ I will turn all my mountains into a road,
my highways will be raised up.
¹² There they come, some from far away,
some from the north, some from the west,
and some from the land of Sinim.”

¹³ Sing, heaven! Rejoice, earth!
Break out in song, you mountains!
For Adonai is comforting his people,
having mercy on his own who have suffered.

¹⁴ “But Tziyon says, ‘Adonai has abandoned me,
Adonai has forgotten me.’
¹⁵ Can a woman forget her child at the breast,
not show pity on the child from her womb?
Even if these were to forget,
I would not forget you.
¹⁶ I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,
your walls are always before me.”

¹⁷ Your children are coming quickly,
your destroyers and plunderers are leaving and going.
¹⁸ Raise your eyes, and look around:
they are all gathering and coming to you.
Adonai swears: “As surely as I am alive,
you will wear them all like jewels,
adorn yourself with them like a bride.”
¹⁹ For your desolate places and ruins
and your devastated land
will be too cramped for those living in it;
your devourers will be far away.
²⁰ The day will come when the children born
when you were mourning will say to you,
“This place is too cramped for me!
Give me room, so I can live!”
²¹ Then you will ask yourself,
“Who fathered these for me?
I’ve been mourning my children, alone,
as an exile, wandering to and fro;
so who has raised these?
I was left alone, so where have these come from?”

²² Adonai Elohim answers:
“I am beckoning to the nations,
raising my banner for the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
²³ Kings will be your foster-fathers,
their princesses your nurses.
They will bow to you, face toward the earth,
and lick the dust on your feet.
Then you will know that I am Adonai —
those who wait for me will not be sorry.”

²⁴ But can booty be wrested from a warrior?
Can a victor’s captives be freed?

²⁵ Here is Adonai’s answer:
“Even a warrior’s captives will be snatched away,
and the booty of the fearful will be freed.
I will fight those who fight you,
and I will save your children.
²⁶ I will feed those oppressing you with their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood as with wine.
Then everyone will know that I, Adonai, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya‘akov.”

50 Adonai says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce document
which I gave her when I divorced her?
Or: to which of my creditors
did I sell you?
You were sold because of your sins;
because of your crimes was your mother divorced.
² Why was no one here when I came?
Why, when I called, did nobody answer?
Is my arm too short to redeem?
Have I too little power to save?
With my rebuke I dry up the sea;
I turn rivers into desert,
their fish rot for lack of water
and they die of thirst;
³ I dress the heavens in black to mourn
and make their covering sackcloth.”

⁴ Adonai Elohim has given me
the ability to speak as a man well taught,
so that I, with my words,
know how to sustain the weary.
Each morning he awakens my ear
to hear like those who are taught.
⁵ Adonai Elohim has opened my ear,
and I neither rebelled nor turned away.
⁶ I offered my back to those who struck me,
my cheeks to those who plucked out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
⁷ For Adonai Elohim will help.
This is why no insult can wound me.
This is why I have set my face like flint,
knowing I will not be put to shame.
⁸ My vindicator is close by;
let whoever dares to accuse me
appear with me in court!
Let whoever has a case against me step forward!
⁹ Look, if Adonai Elohim helps me,
who will dare to condemn me?
Here, they are all falling apart
like old, moth-eaten clothes.

¹⁰ Who among you fears Adonai?
Who obeys what his servant says?
Even when he walks in the dark,
without any light,
he will trust in Adonai’s reputation
and rely on his God.
¹¹ But all of you who are lighting fires
and arming yourselves with firebrands:
go, walk in the flame of your own fire,
among the firebrands you lit!
From my hands this [fate] awaits you:
you will lie down in torment.

51 “Listen to me, you pursuers of justice,
you who seek Adonai:
consider the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were dug —
² consider Avraham your father
and Sarah, who gave birth to you;
in that I called him when he was only one person,
then blessed him and made him many.
³ For Adonai will comfort Tziyon,
will comfort all her ruined places,
will make her desert like ‘Eden,
her ‘Aravah like the garden of Adonai.
Joy and gladness will be there,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
⁴ “Pay attention to me, my people!
My nation, listen to me!
For Torah will go out from me;
I will calm them with my justice
as a light for the peoples.
⁵ My righteousness is at hand,
my salvation goes out,
my arms will judge the peoples.
The coastlands are putting their hope in me,
trusting in my arm.

⁶ “Raise your eyes toward the skies,
look at the earth below.
The skies will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like clothing.
Those living on it will die like flies;
but my salvation will be forever,
and my justice will never end.

⁷ “Listen to me, you who know justice,
you people who have my Torah in your heart:
don’t be afraid of people’s taunts,
don’t be upset by their insults.
⁸ For the moth will eat them up like clothing,
the worm will eat them like wool;
but my justice will be forever,
and my salvation for all generations.”

⁹ Awake! Awake! Arm of Adonai,
clothe yourself with strength!
Awake, as in days of old,
as in ancient generations!
Wasn’t it you who hacked Rahav to pieces,
you who pierced the sea monster?*

¹⁰ Wasn’t it you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep;
you who made the sea bottom a road
for the redeemed to cross?
¹¹ Those ransomed by Adonai will return
and come with singing to Tziyon;
on their heads will be everlasting joy.
They will acquire gladness and joy,
while sorrow and sighing will flee.

¹² “I, yes I, am the one who comforts you!
Why are you afraid of a man, who must die;
of a human being, who will wither like grass?
¹³ You have forgotten Adonai, your maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.
Instead, you are in constant fear all day
because of the oppressor’s rage,
as he prepares to destroy!
But where is the oppressor’s rage?
¹⁴ The captive will soon be set free;
he will not die and go down to Sh’ol;
on the contrary, his food supply will be secure.
¹⁵ For I am Adonai your God,
who stirs up the sea, who makes its waves roar —
Adonai-Tzva’ot is my name.
¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you with the shadow of my hand,
in order to plant the skies [anew],
lay the foundations of the earth [anew]
and say to Tziyon, ‘You are my people.’”

¹⁷ Awake! Awake! Stand up, Yerushalayim!
At Adonai’s hand you drank the cup of his fury;
you have drained to the dregs
the goblet of drunkenness.
¹⁸ There is no one to guide her
among all the sons she has borne.
Not one of all the children she raised
is taking her by the hand.
¹⁹ These two disasters have overcome you —
yet who will grieve with you? —
plunder and destruction, famine and sword;
by whom can I comfort you?
²⁰ Your children lie helpless at every street corner,
like an antelope trapped in a net;
they are full of Adonai’s fury,
the rebuke of your God.
²¹ Therefore, please hear this in your affliction,
you who are drunk, but not with wine;
²² this is what your Lord Adonai says,
your God, who defends his people:
“Here, I have removed from your hand
the cup of drunkenness,
the goblet of my fury.
You will never drink it again.
²³ I will put it in the hands of your tormentors,
who said to you, ‘Bend down, so we can trample you,’
and you flattened your back on the ground
like a street for them to walk on.”

52 Awake! Awake, Tziyon!
Clothe yourself with your strength!
Dress in your splendid garments,
Yerushalayim, the holy city!
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will enter you no more.
² Shake off the dust! Arise!
Be enthroned, Yerushalayim!
Loosen the chains on your neck,
captive daughter of Tziyon!
³ For thus says Adonai:
“You were sold for nothing,
and you will be redeemed without money.”
⁴ For thus says Adonai Elohim:
“Long ago my people went down to Egypt
to live there as aliens,
and Ashur oppressed them for no reason.
⁵ So now, what should I do here,” asks Adonai,
“since my people were carried off for nothing?
Their oppressors are howling,” says Adonai,
“and my name is always being insulted, daily.
⁶ Therefore my people will know my name;
therefore on that day they will know
that I, the one speaking — here I am!”

⁷ How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
proclaiming shalom, bringing good news
of good things, announcing salvation
and saying to Tziyon, “Your God is King!”
⁸ Listen! Your watchmen are raising their voices,
shouting for joy together.
For they will see, before their own eyes,
Adonai returning to Tziyon.

⁹ Break out into joy! Sing together,
you ruins of Yerushalayim!
For Adonai has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Yerushalayim!
¹⁰ Adonai has bared his holy arm
in the sight of every nation,
and all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
¹¹ Leave! Leave! Get out of there!
Don’t touch anything unclean!
Get out from inside it, and be clean,
you who carry Adonai’s temple equipment.
¹² You need not leave in haste,
you do not have to flee;
for Adonai will go ahead of you,
and the God of Isra’el will also be behind you.