26 Review the past for me,
    let us argue the matter together;(A)
    state the case(B) for your innocence.

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26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

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18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”(A)
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;(B)
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.(C)

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18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

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All the nations gather together(A)
    and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold(B) 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.”

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Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

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33 Who will bring any charge(A) against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

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33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

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May my prayer be set before you like incense;(A)
    may the lifting up of my hands(B) be like the evening sacrifice.(C)

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Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

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21 I had planted(A) you like a choice vine(B)
    of sound and reliable stock.
How then did you turn against me
    into a corrupt,(C) wild vine?
22 Although you wash(D) yourself with soap(E)
    and use an abundance of cleansing powder,
    the stain of your guilt is still before me,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.(F)
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;(G)
    I have not run after the Baals’?(H)
See how you behaved in the valley;(I)
    consider what you have done.
You are a swift she-camel
    running(J) here and there,
24 a wild donkey(K) accustomed to the desert,(L)
    sniffing the wind in her craving—
    in her heat who can restrain her?
Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves;
    at mating time they will find her.
25 Do not run until your feet are bare
    and your throat is dry.
But you said, ‘It’s no use!(M)
    I love foreign gods,(N)
    and I must go after them.’(O)

26 “As a thief is disgraced(P) when he is caught,
    so the people of Israel are disgraced—
they, their kings and their officials,
    their priests(Q) and their prophets.(R)
27 They say to wood,(S) ‘You are my father,’
    and to stone,(T) ‘You gave me birth.’
They have turned their backs(U) to me
    and not their faces;(V)
yet when they are in trouble,(W) they say,
    ‘Come and save(X) us!’
28 Where then are the gods(Y) you made for yourselves?
    Let them come if they can save you
    when you are in trouble!(Z)
For you, Judah, have as many gods
    as you have towns.(AA)

29 “Why do you bring charges against me?
    You have all(AB) rebelled against me,”
declares the Lord.
30 “In vain I punished your people;
    they did not respond to correction.(AC)
Your sword has devoured your prophets(AD)
    like a ravenous lion.

31 “You of this generation, consider the word of the Lord:

“Have I been a desert to Israel
    or a land of great darkness?(AE)
Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;
    we will come to you no more’?(AF)
32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry,
    a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten(AG) me,
    days without number.
33 How skilled you are at pursuing(AH) love!
    Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.
34 On your clothes is found
    the lifeblood(AI) of the innocent poor,
    though you did not catch them breaking in.(AJ)
Yet in spite of all this
35     you say, ‘I am innocent;(AK)
    he is not angry with me.’
But I will pass judgment(AL) on you
    because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’(AM)

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21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.

23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets.

27 Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.

29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the Lord.

30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

31 O generation, see ye the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?

32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

33 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.

34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.

35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.

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Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.(A)

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For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

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The Helper of Israel

41 “Be silent(A) before me, you islands!(B)
    Let the nations renew their strength!(C)
Let them come forward(D) and speak;
    let us meet together(E) at the place of judgment.

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41 Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.

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“Brace yourself like a man;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.(A)

“Would you discredit my justice?(B)
    Would you condemn me to justify yourself?(C)

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Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

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He who vindicates(A) me is near.(B)
    Who then will bring charges against me?(C)
    Let us face each other!(D)
Who is my accuser?
    Let him confront me!

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He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

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21 on behalf of a man he pleads(A) with God
    as one pleads for a friend.

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21 O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!

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12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand(A) of the sea, which cannot be counted.(B)’”

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12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

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35 “Who has ever given to God,
    that God should repay them?”[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 11:35 Job 41:11

35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?

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