Category: Isaiah

Look Not to Egypt but to God

1 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who go down to Egypt for help,

Who rely on horses

And trust in chariots because they are many,

And in horsemen because they are very strong,

But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seekandconsult the Lord!

2 Yet He is also wise and will bring disaster,

And does not retract His words,

But will arise against the house of evildoers

And against the helpers of those who do evil.

3 Now the Egyptians are men and not God,

And their horses are flesh and not spirit;

And the Lordwill stretch out His hand,

And he (Egypt) who helps will stumble,

And he (Judah) who is helped will fall,

And all of them will perish together.

4 For so the Lordsays to me,

“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,

And though a large group of shepherds is called out against him

He will not be terrified at their voice nor cringe at their noise,

So the Lordof hosts will come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”

5 Like flying birds, so will the Lordof hosts protect Jerusalem;

He will protect and save it,

He will pass over and rescue it.

6 Return to Him from whom you have so deeply defected, O sons of Israel.

7 For in that day every man will rejectandthrow away his idols of silver and his idols of gold [in disgust], which your own hands have sinfully made for you.

8 Then the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man,

And a sword not of man will devour him.

And he will flee from the sword [of God],

And his young men will become forced labor.

9 “His rock [his stronghold] will pass away because of panic,

And his princes will be terrified at the [sight of the battle] standard,”

Declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

The Glorious Future

1 Behold, aKing will reign in righteousness,

And princes will rule with justice.

2 Each [one of them] will be like a hiding place from the wind

And a shelter from the storm,

Like streams of water in a dry land,

Like the shade of a huge rock in a parchedandweary land [to those who turn to them].

3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded,

And the ears of those who hear will listen attentively.

4 The heart (mind) of those who act impulsively will discern the truth,

And the tongue of the stammerers will hurry to speak clearly.

5 The fool (the good-for-nothing) will no longer be called noble,

Nor the rogue said to be generous.

6 For the fool speaks nonsense,

And his heart (mind) plans wickedness:

To practice ungodliness and to speak error concerning the Lord,

To keep the craving of the hungry unsatisfied

And to deprive the thirsty of drink.

7 As for the rogue, his weapons are evil;

He conceives wicked plans

To ruin the poor with lies,

Even when the plea of the needy one is justandright.

8 But the noble man conceives nobleandmagnificent things;

And he stands by what is nobleandmagnificent.

9 Rise up, you women who are carefree,

And hear my voice,

You confidentandunsuspecting daughters!

Listen to what I am saying.

10 In little more than a year

You will tremble [with anxiety], you unsuspectingandcomplacent women;

For the vintage has ended,

And the harvest will not come.

11 Tremble, you women who are carefree;

Tremble with fear, you complacent ones!

Strip, undress and wearsackclothon your waist [in grief],

12 Beat your breasts [in mourning] for the beautiful fields, for the fruitful vine,

13 For the land of my people growing over with thorns and briars—

Yes, [mourn] for all the houses of joy in the joyous city.

14 For the palace has been abandoned, the populated city deserted;

The hill [of the city] and the watchtower have become caves [for wild animals] forever,

A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,

15 Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high,

And the wilderness becomes a fertile field,

And the fertile field is valued as a forest.

16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,

And righteousness will live in the fertile field.

17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace,

And the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever.

18 Then my people will live in a peaceful surrounding,

And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places.

19 But it will hail, when the forest comes down,

And the [capital] city will fall in utter humiliation.

20 Blessed (happy, fortunate) are you who cast your seed upon all waters [when the river overflows its banks and irrigates the land],

You who allow the ox and the donkey to roam freely.

The Judgment of God

1 Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O destroyer,

You who were not destroyed,

And he who is treacherous, whileothersdid not deal treacherously with him.

As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;

As soon as you stop dealing treacherously,otherswill deal treacherously with you.

2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited [expectantly] for You.

Be the arm of Your servants every morning [that is, their strength and their defense],

Our salvation also in the time of trouble.

3 At the sound of the tumult, the peoples flee;

At the lifting up of Yourself nations scatter.

4 Your spoil [of Israel’s foe] is gathered [by the people of Jerusalem] as the caterpillar gathers;

As locusts swarming so people swarm on it.

5 The Lordis exalted, for He dwells on high;

He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 And He will be the securityandstability of your times,

A treasure of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;

The fear of the Lordis your treasure.

7 Now look, their brave men shout outside;

The ambassadors [seeking a treaty] of peace weep bitterly.

8 The highways are deserted, the traveler has ceased [to appear].

The enemyhas broken the covenant, he has rejected thecities,

He has no regard for [any] man.

9 The land mourns and dries out,

Lebanon is shamed and [its lush foliage] withers;

Sharon is like a desert plain,

AndBashan and [Mount] Carmel shake offtheir leaves.

10 “Now I will arise,” says the Lord.

“Now I will be exalted; now I will be lifted up.

11 You have conceived dried grass, you will give birth to stubble;

My breath is a fire that will consume you.

12 The peoples will be burned to lime,

Like thorns cut down which are burned in the fire.

13 “You who are far away, hear what I have done;

And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

14 The sinners in Zion are terrified;

Trembling has seized the godless.

[They cry] “Who among us can live with the consuming fire?

Who among us can live with everlasting burning?”

15 He who walks righteously and speaks with integrity,

Who rejects gain from fraudandfrom oppression,

Who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes,

Who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed

And shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil;

16 He will dwell on the heights,

His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks,

His bread will be given him;

His water will be permanent.

17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;

They will see a far-distant land.

18 Your mind will meditate on the terror [asking]:

“Where is he who counts?

Where is he who weighs [the tribute]?

Where is he who counts the towers?”

19 You will no longer see the fierceandinsolent people,

A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,

Of a strangeandstammering tongue which no one understands.

20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feastsandobservances;

Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a undisturbed settlement,

A tent which will not be taken down;

Not one of its stakes will ever be pulled up,

Nor any of its ropes be severed.

21 But there the mightyandmagnificent Lordwill be for us

A place of broad rivers and streams,

Where no oar-driven boat will go,

And on which no mightyandstately ship will pass.

22 For the Lordis our Judge,

The Lordis our Ruler,

The Lordis our King;

He will save us.

23 Your ship’s ropes (tackle) hang loose;

They cannot hold the base of their mast firmly,

Nor spread out the sail.

Then an abundance of spoil and plunder will be divided;

Even the lame will take the plunder.

24 And no inhabitant [of Zion] will say, “I am sick”;

The people who dwell there will be forgiven their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing].

God’s Wrath against Nations

1 Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!

Let the earth and all that is in it hear, and the world and all that comes forth from it.

2 For the Lordis angry at all the nations,

AndHiswrath is against all their armies;

He hasutterly doomed them,

He has given them over to slaughter.

3 So their slain will be thrown out,

And the stench of their corpses will rise,

And the mountains will flow with their blood.

4 All the host of heaven will be dissolved,

And the skies will be rolled up like a scroll;

All their hosts [the stars and the planets] will also wither away

As a leaf withers from the vine,

And as afigwithers from the fig tree.

5 For My sword is satiated [with blood] in heaven;

Indeed, it will come down for judgment on Edom

And on the people whom I have doomed for destruction.

6 The sword of the Lordis filled with blood [from sacrifices],

It drips with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,

With the fat of the kidneys of rams.

For the Lordhas a sacrifice in Bozrah (Edom’s capital city)

And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7 Wild oxen will also fall with them

And the young bulls with the strong bulls;

And their land will be soaked with blood,

And their dust made greasy with fat.

8 For the Lordhas a day of vengeance,

A year of retribution for the cause of Zion.

9 The streams [of Edom] will be turned into pitch,

And its dust into brimstone,

And its land will become burning pitch.

10 The burning will not be quenched night or day;

Its smoke will go up forever.

From generation to generation it will lie in ruins;

No one will ever again pass through it.

11 But the pelican and the porcupine will take possession of it;

The owl and the raven will dwell in it.

And He will stretch over it (Edom) the measuring line of desolation

And the plumb line of emptiness.

12 Its nobles—there is no one there

Whom they may proclaim king—

And all its princes will be nothing.

13 Thorns will come up in its fortified palaces,

Nettles and brambles in its fortified cities;

It will be a haunt for jackals,

An abode for ostriches.

14 The creatures of the desert will encounter jackals

And thehairy goat will call to its kind;

Indeed,Lilith (night demon) will settle there

And find herself a place of rest.

15 There the arrow snake will make her nest and lay her eggs,

And hatch them and gatherher youngunder her protection;

Indeed, the birds of prey will be gathered there [to breed],

Every one with its own kind.

16 Seek from the book of the Lord, and read:

Not one of these [creatures] will be missing;

None will lack its mate.

For His mouth has commanded,

And His Spirit has gathered them.

17 The Lordhas cast the lot for them,

And His hand has dividedandapportionedEdom to the wild beasts by measuring-line.

They will possess it forever;

From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

Zion’s Joyful Future

1 The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;

The Arabah (desert) will shout in exultation and blossom

Like theautumn crocus.

2 It will blossom abundantly

And rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

The majesty of [Mount] Carmel and [the plain] of Sharon.

They will see the glory of the Lord,

The majestyandsplendor of our God.

3 Encourage the exhausted, and make staggering knees firm.

4 Say to those with an anxiousandpanic-stricken heart,

“Be strong, fear not!

Indeed, your God will come with vengeance [for the ungodly];

The retribution of God will come,

But He will save you.”

5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened

And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,

And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.

For waters will break forth in the wilderness

And streams in the desert.

7 And the burning sand (mirage) will become a pool [of water]

And the thirsty ground springs of water;

In the haunt of jackals,where they lay resting,

Grass becomes reeds andrushes.

8 A highway will be there, and a roadway;

And it will be called the Holy Way.

The unclean will not travel on it,

But it will be for those who walk on the way [the redeemed];

And fools will not wanderon it.

9 No lion will be there,

Nor will any predatory animal come up on it;

They will not be found there.

But the redeemed will walkthere.

10 And the ransomed of the Lordwill return

And come to Zion with shouts of jubilation,

And everlasting joy will be upon their heads;

They will find joy and gladness,

And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Sennacherib Invades Judah

1 Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them.

2 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh [his military commander] from Lachish [the Judean fortress commanding the road from Egypt] to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a large army. And he stood by the canal of the Upper Pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.

3 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recording historian, came out to [meet] him.

4 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says, “What is [the reason for] this confidence that you have?

5 I say, ‘Your plan and strength for the war are onlyempty words.’ Now in whom do you trustandon whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me?

6 Listen carefully, you rely on the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

7 But if you say to me, ‘We trust inandrely on the Lordour God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?

8 So now, exchange pledges with my master the king of Assyria and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them.

9 How then can you repulse [the attack of] a singlecommander of the least of my master’s servants, and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

10 Moreover, is it without the Lordthat I have now come up against this land to destroy it? The Lordsaid to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’ ” ’ ”

11 Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please, speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it; and do not speak to us in Judean (Hebrew) in the hearing of the people who are [stationed] on the wall.”

12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these wordsonlyto your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall,doomedto eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Judean (Hebrew): “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

14 This is what the king says, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you;

15 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lordwill most certainly rescue us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

16 Do not listen to Hezekiah,’ for this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Make peace with me and come out to me, and each one of you will eat from his own vine and each from his own fig tree and each [one of you] drink from the water of his own cistern,

17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

18 Bewarethat Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, “The Lordwill rescue us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations [ever] rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad [in Aram]? Where are the gods ofSepharvaim? And when have they rescued Samaria from my hand?

20 Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their land from my hand, that [you should think that] the Lordwould rescue Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”

21 But they kept silent and did not say a word to him in reply, for King Hezekiah’s command was, “Do not answer him.”

22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recording historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [in grief], and told him the words of the Rabshakeh [the Assyrian commander].

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help

1 And when King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord.

2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke and disgrace; for children have come to birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

4 It may be that the Lordyour God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh [the commander], whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to tauntanddefy the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lordyour God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant [of His people] that is left.’ ”

5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 Isaiah said to them, “You shall say the following to your master: ‘This is what the Lordsays, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

7 Listen carefully, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”

8 So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah [a fortified city of Judah], for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.

9 And Sennacherib king of Assyria, heardthemsay concerning Tirhakah king of Cush (Ethiopia), “He has come out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

10 “You shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

11 Listen carefully, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, utterly destroying them. So will you be rescued?

12 Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan, Haran [of Mesopotamia], Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?

13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad [of northern Syria], the king of the city of Sepharvaim, [the king of] Hena, or [the king of] Ivvah?’ ”

Hezekiah’s Prayer in the Temple

14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lordand spread it out before the Lord.

15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lordsaying,

16 “O Lordof hosts, God of Israel, who is enthronedabovethe cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

17 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to tauntanddefy the living God.

18 It is true, O Lord, that the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries and their lands,

19 and have cast the gods [of those peoples] into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them.

20 Now, O Lordour God, save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may knowandfully realize that You alone, Lord, areGod.”

God Answers through Isaiah

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sentwordto Hezekiah, saying, “For the Lord, the God of Israel says this, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria,

22 this is the word that the Lordhas spoken against him:

“She has shown contempt for you and mocked you,

The Virgin Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem);

She has shaken her head behind you,

The Daughter of Jerusalem!

23 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?

And against whom have you raised your voice

And haughtily lifted up your eyes?

Against the Holy One of Israel!

24 Through your servants you have tauntedanddefied the Lord,

And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,

To the remotest parts of Lebanon.

I cut down its tallest cedars and its choicest cypress trees;

And I will go to its remotest height, its most luxuriantandthickest forest.

25 I dugwellsand drank [foreign] waters,

And with the sole of my feet I dried up

All the canals [of the Nile] of Egypt.’

26 Have you not heard [says the God of Israel]

That I did it long ago,

That I planned it in ancient times?

Now I have brought it to pass,

That you [king of Assyria] would [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

27 Therefore their inhabitants had little power,

They were terrorized and shamed;

They were like the grass of the field and the green vegetation,

Like grass on the housetopsandlike a field [of grain] scorched before it is grown.

28 But I know your sitting down

And your going out and your coming in [every detail of your life],

And your raging against Me.

29 Because your raging against Me

And your arrogance has come up to My ears,

I will put My hook in your nose

And My bridle in yourmouth,

And I will turn you back by the way you came.

30 “This shall be the sign [of these things] to you [Hezekiah]: you are to eat this yearwhat grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same, and in the third year you are to sow and harvest, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant and from Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lordof hosts will do this.” ’

33 “Therefore, the Lordsays this concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with shield, or raise an assault ramp against it.

34 By the way that he came, by the same way he will return, and he will not come into this city,’ declares the Lord.

35 ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’ ”

Assyrians Destroyed

36 And theangel of the Lordwent out andstruck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the [surviving] men got up early the next morning,they sawall the dead.

37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned and lived at Nineveh.

38 It came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat [in Armenia]. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

Hezekiah Healed

1 In those days Hezekiah [king of Judah] became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, “For the Lordsays this, ‘Set your house in orderandprepare a will, for you shall die; you will not live.’ ”

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,

3 and said, “Please, O Lord, just remember how I have walked before You in faithfulnessandtruth, and with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept greatly.

4 Then the word of the Lordcame to Isaiah, saying,

5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘For the Lord, the God of David your father says this, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; listen carefully, I will add fifteen years to your life.

6 I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city [Jerusalem].” ’

7 “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lordwill do this thing that He has spoken:

8 Listen carefully, I will turn the shadow on the stairway [denoting the time of day] ten steps backward,the shadowon the stairway (sundial) of Ahaz.” And the sunlight went ten steps backward on the stairway where it had [previously] gone down.

9 This is thewriting of Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:

10 I said, “In mid-life

I am to go through the gates of Sheol (the place of the dead),

I am to be summoned,deprived ofthe remainder of my years.”

11 I said, “I will not see the Lord,

The Lordin the land of the living;

I will no longer see man among the inhabitants of the world.

12 My dwelling (body) is pulled up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent;

I have rolled up my life as a weaver [rolls up the finished web].

He cuts me free from the warp [of the loom];

From day to night You bring me to an end.

13 I lay down until morning.

Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones;

From day until night You bring me to an end.

14 Like a swallow, like a crane, so I chirp;

I coo like a dove.

My eyes look wistfully upward;

O Lord, I am oppressed, take my sideandbe my security.

15 “What shall I say?

For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;

I will wander aimlessly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

16 O Lord, bythesethings men live,

And in all these is the life of my spirit;

Restore me to health and let me live!

17 Indeed, it was for my own well-being that I had such bitterness;

But You have loved back my life from the pit of nothingness (destruction),

For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

18 For Sheol cannot praiseorthank You,

Death cannot praise Youandrejoice in You;

Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

19 It is the living who give praiseandthanks to You, as I do today;

A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.

20 The Lordis ready to save me;

Therefore we will play my songs on stringed instruments

All the days of our lives at the house of the Lord.”

21 Now Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs and rub it [as an ointment] on the inflamed spot, that he may recover.”

22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”

Hezekiah Shows His Treasures

1 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent [messengers with] letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered.

2 Hezekiah was pleased and showed them his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his entire armory and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his area of dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did these men say? From where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a far country, fromBabylon.”

4 Then Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lordof hosts,

6 ‘Listen carefully, the days are coming when everything that is in your house and everything that your predecessors have stored up until this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.

7 ‘Andsome of your own sons (descendants) who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, “The word of the Lordwhich you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and faithfulness [to God’s promises to us] in my days.”

The Greatness of God

1 “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.

2 “Speaktenderly to Jerusalem,

And call out to her, that her time of compulsory service in warfare is finished,

That her wickedness has been taken away [since her punishment is sufficient],

That she has received from the Lord’shand

Double [punishment] for all her sins.”

3 A voice of one is calling out,

“Clear the way for the Lordin the wilderness [remove the obstacles];

Make straightandsmooth in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be raised,

And every mountain and hill be made low;

And let the rough ground become a plain,

And the rugged places a broad valley.

5 And the gloryandmajestyandsplendor of the Lordwill be revealed,

And all humanity shall see it together;

For the mouth of the Lordhas spoken it.”

6 A voice says, “Call out [prophesy].”

Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”

[The voice answered:] All humanity is [as frail as] grass, and all that makes it attractive [its charm, its loveliness] is [momentary] like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades,

When the breath of the Lordblows upon it;

Most certainly [all] the people are [like] grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades,

But the word of our God stands forever.

9 O Zion, herald of good news,

Get up on a high mountain.

O Jerusalem, herald of good news,

Lift up your voice with strength,

Lift it up, do not fear;

Say to the cities of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

10 Listen carefully, the Lord Godwill come with might,

And His arm will rule for Him.

Most certainly His reward is with Him,

And His restitution accompanies Him.

11 He will protect His flock like a shepherd,

He will gather the lambs in His arm,

He will carry them in His bosom;

He will gentlyandcarefully lead those nursing their young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,

And marked off the heavens with a span [of the hand],

And calculated the dust of the earth with ameasure,

And weighed the mountains in a balance

And the hills in a pair of scales?

13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,

Or has taught Him as His counselor?

14 With whom did He consult andwhoenlightened Him?

Whotaught Him the path of justice and taught Him knowledge

And informed Him of the way of understanding?

15 In fact, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;

Now look, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

16 And [the forests of] Lebanon cannot supply sufficientfuelto start a fire,

Nor are its wild beasts enough for a burnt offering [worthy of the Lord].

17 All the nations are as nothing before Him,

They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.

18 To whom then will you liken God?

Or with what likeness will you compare Him?

19 As forthe cast image (idol), a metalworker casts it,

A goldsmith overlays it with gold

And a silversmithcasts itssilver chains.

20 He who is too impoverished forsuchan offering [to give to his god]

Chooses a tree that will not rot;

He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman

To [carve and] set up an idol that will not totter.

21 Do you [who worship idols] not know? Have you not heard?

Has it not been told to you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth [the omnipotence of God and the stupidity of bowing to idols]?

22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

[It is He] who stretches out the heavens like a veil

And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

23 It is He who reduces dignitaries to nothing,

Who makes the judges (rulers) of the earth meaningless (useless).

24 Scarcely have they been planted,

Scarcely have they been sown,

Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,

But He merely blows on them, and they wither,

And a strong wind carries them away like stubble.

25 “To whom then will you compare Me

That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high

And see who has created theseheavenly bodies,

The One who brings out their host by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,

Not one is missing.

27 Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become tired or grow weary;

There is no searching of His understanding.

29 He gives strength to the weary,

And to him who has no might He increases power.

30 Even youths grow weary and tired,

And vigorous young men stumble badly,

31 But those who wait for the Lord[who expect, look for, and hope in Him]

Will gain new strengthandrenew their power;

They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun];

They will run and not become weary,

They will walk and not grow tired.