⁸ Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,^(AF)
    who have ears but are deaf.^(AG)
9 All the nations gather together^(AH)
    and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold^(AI) this
    and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
    so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,^(AJ)” declares the Lord,
    “and my servant^(AK) whom I have chosen,
so that you may know^(AL) and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
Before me no god^(AM) was formed,
    nor will there be one after me.^(AN)
11 I, even I, am the Lord,^(AO)
    and apart from me there is no savior.^(AP)
12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
    I, and not some foreign god^(AQ) among you.
You are my witnesses,^(AR)” declares the Lord, “that I am God.
¹³     Yes, and from ancient days^(AS) I am he.^(AT)
No one can deliver out of my hand.
    When I act, who can reverse it?”^(AU)

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,^(BC)
17 who drew out^(BD) the chariots and horses,^(BE)
    the army and reinforcements together,^(BF)
and they lay^(BG) there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:^(BH)
18 “Forget the former things;^(BI)
    do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!^(BJ)
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness^(BK)
    and streams in the wasteland.^(BL)
20 The wild animals^(BM) honor me,
    the jackals^(BN) and the owls,
because I provide water^(BO) in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
²¹     the people I formed^(BP) for myself^(BQ)
    that they may proclaim my praise.^(BR)

²² “Yet you have not called on me, Jacob,
    you have not wearied^(BS) yourselves for^[c] me, Israel.^(BT)
23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,^(BU)
    nor honored^(BV) me with your sacrifices.^(BW)
I have not burdened^(BX) you with grain offerings
    nor wearied you with demands^(BY) for incense.^(BZ)
24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus^(CA) for me,
    or lavished on me the fat^(CB) of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins
    and wearied^(CC) me with your offenses.^(CD)

²⁵ “I, even I, am he who blots out
    your transgressions,^(CE) for my own sake,^(CF)
    and remembers your sins^(CG) no more.^(CH)
26 Review the past for me,
    let us argue the matter together;^(CI)
    state the case^(CJ) for your innocence.
²⁷ Your first father^(CK) sinned;
    those I sent to teach^(CL) you rebelled^(CM) against me.
²⁸ So I disgraced the dignitaries of your temple;
    I consigned Jacob to destruction^[d](CN)
    and Israel to scorn.^(CO)

⁹ All who make idols^(AC) are nothing,
    and the things they treasure are worthless.^(AD)
Those who would speak up for them are blind;^(AE)
    they are ignorant, to their own shame.^(AF)
10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol,^(AG)
    which can profit nothing?^(AH)
11 People who do that will be put to shame;^(AI)
    such craftsmen are only human beings.
Let them all come together and take their stand;
    they will be brought down to terror and shame.^(AJ)

¹² The blacksmith^(AK) takes a tool
    and works with it in the coals;
he shapes an idol with hammers,
    he forges it with the might of his arm.^(AL)
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
    he drinks no water and grows faint.^(AM)
13 The carpenter^(AN) measures with a line
    and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
    and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,^(AO)
    human form in all its glory,
    that it may dwell in a shrine.^(AP)
14 He cut down cedars,
    or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
    or planted a pine,^(AQ) and the rain made it grow.
¹⁵ It is used as fuel^(AR) for burning;
    some of it he takes and warms himself,
    he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships^(AS) it;
    he makes an idol and bows^(AT) down to it.
¹⁶ Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
    over it he prepares his meal,
    he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
    “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.^(AU)”
¹⁷ From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
    he bows down to it and worships.^(AV)
He prays^(AW) to it and says,
    “Save^(AX) me! You are my god!”
¹⁸ They know nothing, they understand^(AY) nothing;
    their eyes^(AZ) are plastered over so they cannot see,
    and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
¹⁹ No one stops to think,
    no one has the knowledge or understanding^(BA) to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;^(BB)
    I even baked bread over its coals,
    I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable^(BC) thing from what is left?
    Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”^(BD)
20 Such a person feeds on ashes;^(BE) a deluded^(BF) heart misleads him;
    he cannot save himself, or say,
    “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?^(BG)”

²¹ “Remember^(BH) these things, Jacob,
    for you, Israel, are my servant.^(BI)
I have made you, you are my servant;^(BJ)
    Israel, I will not forget you.^(BK)
22 I have swept away^(BL) your offenses like a cloud,
    your sins like the morning mist.
Return^(BM) to me,
    for I have redeemed^(BN) you.”

²³ Sing for joy,^(BO) you heavens, for the Lord has done this;
    shout aloud, you earth^(BP) beneath.
Burst into song, you mountains,^(BQ)
    you forests and all your trees,^(BR)
for the Lord has redeemed^(BS) Jacob,
    he displays his glory^(BT) in Israel.

I am the Lord,
    the Maker of all things,
    who stretches out the heavens,^(BX)
    who spreads out the earth^(BY) by myself,
²⁵ who foils^(BZ) the signs of false prophets
    and makes fools of diviners,^(CA)
who overthrows the learning of the wise^(CB)
    and turns it into nonsense,^(CC)
26 who carries out the words^(CD) of his servants
    and fulfills^(CE) the predictions of his messengers,

who says of Jerusalem,^(CF) ‘It shall be inhabited,’
    of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,’
    and of their ruins,^(CG) ‘I will restore them,’^(CH)
27 who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry,
    and I will dry up^(CI) your streams,’
²⁸ who says of Cyrus,^(CJ) ‘He is my shepherd
    and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem,^(CK) “Let it be rebuilt,”
    and of the temple,^(CL) “Let its foundations^(CM) be laid.”’

45 “This is what the Lord says to his anointed,^(A)
    to Cyrus,^(B) whose right hand I take hold^(C) of
to subdue nations^(D) before him
    and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
    so that gates will not be shut:
² I will go before you^(E)
    and will level^(F) the mountains^[a];
I will break down gates^(G) of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.^(H)
3 I will give you hidden treasures,^(I)
    riches stored in secret places,^(J)
so that you may know^(K) that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.^(L)
4 For the sake of Jacob my servant,^(M)
    of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
    and bestow on you a title of honor,
    though you do not acknowledge^(N) me.
⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other;^(O)
    apart from me there is no God.^(P)
I will strengthen you,^(Q)
    though you have not acknowledged me,
⁶ so that from the rising of the sun
    to the place of its setting^(R)
people may know^(S) there is none besides me.^(T)
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷ I form the light and create darkness,^(U)
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;^(V)
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

⁸ “You heavens above, rain^(W) down my righteousness;^(X)
    let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
    let salvation^(Y) spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
    I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹ “Woe to those who quarrel^(Z) with their Maker,^(AA)
    those who are nothing but potsherds^(AB)
    among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,^(AC)
    ‘What are you making?’^(AD)
Does your work say,
    ‘The potter has no hands’?^(AE)
10 Woe to the one who says to a father,
    ‘What have you begotten?’
or to a mother,
    ‘What have you brought to birth?’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says—
    the Holy One^(AF) of Israel, and its Maker:^(AG)
Concerning things to come,
    do you question me about my children,
    or give me orders about the work of my hands?^(AH)
12 It is I who made the earth^(AI)
    and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;^(AJ)
    I marshaled their starry hosts.^(AK)
13 I will raise up Cyrus^[b](AL) in my righteousness:
    I will make all his ways straight.^(AM)
He will rebuild my city^(AN)
    and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,^(AO)
    says the Lord Almighty.”

“The products^(AP) of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,^[c]
    and those tall Sabeans^(AQ)—
they will come over to you^(AR)
    and will be yours;
they will trudge behind you,^(AS)
    coming over to you in chains.^(AT)
They will bow down before you
    and plead^(AU) with you, saying,
‘Surely God is with you,^(AV) and there is no other;
    there is no other god.^(AW)’”

¹⁵ Truly you are a God who has been hiding^(AX) himself,
    the God and Savior^(AY) of Israel.
¹⁶ All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;^(AZ)
    they will go off into disgrace together.
¹⁷ But Israel will be saved^(BA) by the Lord
    with an everlasting salvation;^(BB)
you will never be put to shame or disgraced,^(BC)
    to ages everlasting.

¹⁸ For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
    he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,^(BD)
    he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,^(BE)
    but formed it to be inhabited^(BF)—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
    and there is no other.^(BG)
19 I have not spoken in secret,^(BH)
    from somewhere in a land of darkness;^(BI)
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,^(BJ)
    ‘Seek^(BK) me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.^(BL)

²⁰ “Gather together^(BM) and come;
    assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant^(BN) are those who carry^(BO) about idols of wood,
    who pray to gods that cannot save.^(BP)
21 Declare what is to be, present it—
    let them take counsel together.
Who foretold^(BQ) this long ago,
    who declared it from the distant past?^(BR)
Was it not I, the Lord?
    And there is no God apart from me,^(BS)
a righteous God^(BT) and a Savior;^(BU)
    there is none but me.

²² “Turn^(BV) to me and be saved,^(BW)
    all you ends of the earth;^(BX)
    for I am God, and there is no other.^(BY)
23 By myself I have sworn,^(BZ)
    my mouth has uttered in all integrity^(CA)
    a word that will not be revoked:^(CB)
Before me every knee will bow;^(CC)
    by me every tongue will swear.^(CD)
24 They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
    are deliverance^(CE) and strength.^(CF)’”
All who have raged against him
    will come to him and be put to shame.^(CG)
25 But all the descendants^(CH) of Israel
    will find deliverance^(CI) in the Lord
    and will make their boast in him.^(CJ)

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
    what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”^[a](AD)