“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    a son of man that you care for him?^(L)
7 You made them a little^[a] lower than the angels;
    you crowned them with glory and honor
⁸     and put everything under their feet.”^[b][c](M)

“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
    in the assembly I will sing your praises.”^[h](V)

“I will put my trust in him.”^[i](W)

“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”^[j](X)

Praise the Lord.^[a]

“From now on I will tell you of new things,^(R)
    of hidden things unknown to you.
⁷ They are created^(S) now, and not long ago;^(T)
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    ‘Yes, I knew^(U) of them.’
⁸ You have neither heard nor understood;^(V)
    from of old your ears^(W) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous^(X) you are;
    you were called a rebel^(Y) from birth.
⁹ For my own name’s sake^(Z) I delay my wrath;^(AA)
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.^(AB)
10 See, I have refined^(AC) you, though not as silver;
    I have tested^(AD) you in the furnace^(AE) of affliction.
¹¹ For my own sake,^(AF) for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?^(AG)
    I will not yield my glory to another.^(AH)

¹⁴ “Come together,^(AP) all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold^(AQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally^(AR)
    will carry out his purpose^(AS) against Babylon;^(AT)
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.^[a]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called^(AU) him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed^(AV) in his mission.

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;^(AY)
    at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord^(AZ) has sent^(BA) me,
    endowed with his Spirit.^(BB)

¹⁷ This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer,^(BC) the Holy One^(BD) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches^(BE) you what is best for you,
    who directs^(BF) you in the way^(BG) you should go.
¹⁸ If only you had paid attention^(BH) to my commands,
    your peace^(BI) would have been like a river,^(BJ)
    your well-being^(BK) like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹ Your descendants^(BL) would have been like the sand,^(BM)
    your children like its numberless grains;^(BN)
their name would never be blotted out^(BO)
    nor destroyed from before me.”

²⁰ Leave Babylon,
    flee^(BP) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy^(BQ)
    and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;^(BR)
    say, “The Lord has redeemed^(BS) his servant Jacob.”
²¹ They did not thirst^(BT) when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow^(BU) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
    and water gushed out.^(BV)

²² “There is no peace,”^(BW) says the Lord, “for the wicked.”^(BX)

⁵ And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb^(CN) to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel^(CO) to himself,
for I am^[b] honored^(CP) in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength^(CQ)—
⁶ he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant^(CR)
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.^(CS)
I will also make you a light^(CT) for the Gentiles,^(CU)
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”^(CV)

⁷ This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel^(CW)—
to him who was despised^(CX) and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings^(CY) will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,^(CZ)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,^(DA)
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen^(DB) you.”

“In the time of my favor^(DC) I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;^(DD)
I will keep^(DE) you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,^(DF)
to restore the land^(DG)
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,^(DH)
9 to say to the captives,^(DI) ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness,^(DJ) ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.^(DK)
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,^(DL)
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.^(DM)
He who has compassion^(DN) on them will guide^(DO) them
    and lead them beside springs^(DP) of water.
¹¹ I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways^(DQ) will be raised up.^(DR)
12 See, they will come from afar^(DS)—
    some from the north, some from the west,^(DT)
    some from the region of Aswan.^[c]”

¹³ Shout for joy,^(DU) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;^(DV)
    burst into song, you mountains!^(DW)
For the Lord comforts^(DX) his people
    and will have compassion^(DY) on his afflicted ones.^(DZ)

¹⁴ But Zion^(EA) said, “The Lord has forsaken^(EB) me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵ “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child^(EC) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!^(ED)
16 See, I have engraved^(EE) you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls^(EF) are ever before me.
¹⁷ Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste^(EG) depart from you.
¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather^(EH) and come to you.
As surely as I live,^(EI)” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear^(EJ) them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

¹⁹ “Though you were ruined and made desolate^(EK)
    and your land laid waste,^(EL)
now you will be too small for your people,^(EM)
    and those who devoured^(EN) you will be far away.
²⁰ The children born during your bereavement
    will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
    give us more space to live in.’^(EO)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?^(EP)
I was bereaved^(EQ) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.^(ER)
    Who brought these^(ES) up?
I was left^(ET) all alone,^(EU)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner^(EW) to the peoples;
they will bring^(EX) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.^(EY)
23 Kings^(EZ) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.^(FA)
They will bow down^(FB) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust^(FC) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;^(FD)
    those who hope^(FE) in me will not be disappointed.^(FF)”

²⁴ Can plunder be taken from warriors,^(FG)
    or captives be rescued from the fierce^[d]?

“Yes, captives^(FH) will be taken from warriors,^(FI)
    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;^(FJ)
I will contend with those who contend with you,^(FK)
    and your children I will save.^(FL)
26 I will make your oppressors^(FM) eat^(FN) their own flesh;
    they will be drunk on their own blood,^(FO) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know^(FP)
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior,^(FQ)
    your Redeemer,^(FR) the Mighty One of Jacob.^(FS)”

“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce^(FT)
    with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
    did I sell^(FU) you?
Because of your sins^(FV) you were sold;^(FW)
    because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
² When I came, why was there no one?
    When I called, why was there no one to answer?^(FX)
Was my arm too short^(FY) to deliver you?
    Do I lack the strength^(FZ) to rescue you?
By a mere rebuke^(GA) I dry up the sea,^(GB)
    I turn rivers into a desert;^(GC)
their fish rot for lack of water
    and die of thirst.
³ I clothe the heavens with darkness^(GD)
    and make sackcloth^(GE) its covering.”

⁴ The Sovereign Lord^(GF) has given me a well-instructed tongue,^(GG)
    to know the word that sustains the weary.^(GH)
He wakens me morning by morning,^(GI)
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.^(GJ)
5 The Sovereign Lord^(GK) has opened my ears;^(GL)
    I have not been rebellious,^(GM)
    I have not turned away.
⁶ I offered my back to those who beat^(GN) me,
    my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;^(GO)
I did not hide my face
    from mocking and spitting.^(GP)
7 Because the Sovereign Lord^(GQ) helps^(GR) me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,^(GS)
    and I know I will not be put to shame.^(GT)
8 He who vindicates^(GU) me is near.^(GV)
    Who then will bring charges against me?^(GW)
    Let us face each other!^(GX)
Who is my accuser?
    Let him confront me!
⁹ It is the Sovereign Lord^(GY) who helps^(GZ) me.
    Who will condemn^(HA) me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
    the moths^(HB) will eat them up.

¹⁰ Who among you fears^(HC) the Lord
    and obeys^(HD) the word of his servant?^(HE)
Let the one who walks in the dark,
    who has no light,^(HF)
trust^(HG) in the name of the Lord
    and rely on their God.
¹¹ But now, all you who light fires
    and provide yourselves with flaming torches,^(HH)
go, walk in the light of your fires^(HI)
    and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:^(HJ)
    You will lie down in torment.^(HK)