Isaiah 40:1-65:24
Complete Jewish Bible
40 “Comfort and keep comforting my people,” says your God.
2 “Tell Yerushalayim to take heart; proclaim to her
that she has completed her time of service,
that her guilt has been paid off,
that she has received at the hand of Adonai
double for all her sins.”
3 A voice cries out:
“Clear a road through the desert for Adonai!
Level a highway in the ‘Aravah for our God!
4 Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill lowered,
the bumpy places made level
and the crags become a plain.
5 Then the glory of Adonai will be revealed;
all humankind together will see it,
for the mouth of Adonai has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Proclaim!”
And I answer, “What should I proclaim?”
“All humanity is merely grass,
all its kindness like wildflowers:
7 the grass dries up, the flower fades,
when a wind from Adonai blows on it.
Surely the people are grass!
8 The grass dries up, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.”
9 You who bring good news to Tziyon,
get yourself up on a high mountain;
you who bring good news to Yerushalayim,
cry out at the top of your voice!
Don’t be afraid to shout out loud!
Say to the cities of Y’hudah,
“Here is your God!
10 Here comes Adonai Elohim with power,
and his arm will rule for him.
Look! His reward is with him,
and his recompense is before him.
11 He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
gathering his lambs with his arm,
carrying them against his chest,
gently leading the mother sheep.”
12 Who has counted the handfuls of water in the sea,
measured off the sky with a ruler,
gauged how much dust there is on the earth,
weighed the mountains on scales, or the hills in a balance?
13 Who has measured the Spirit of Adonai?
Who has been his counselor, instructing him?
14 Whom did he consult, to gain understanding?
Who taught him how to judge,
taught him what he needed to know,
showed him how to discern?
15 The nations are like a drop in a bucket,
they count like a grain of dust on the scales.
The islands weigh as little as specks of dust.
16 The L’vanon would not suffice for fuel
or its animals be enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are like nothing.
He regards them as less than nothing.
18 With whom, then, will you compare God?
By what standard will you evaluate him?
19 An image made by a craftsman,
which a goldsmith overlays with gold,
for which he then casts silver chains?
20 A man too poor to afford an offering
chooses a piece of wood that won’t rot,
then seeks out a skilled artisan
to prepare an image that won’t fall over.
21 Don’t you know? Don’t you hear?
Haven’t you been told from the start?
Don’t you understand how the earth is set up?
22 He who sits above the circle of the earth —
for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers —
stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He reduces princes to nothing,
the rulers of the earth to emptiness.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely their stem taken root in the ground,
when he blows on them, they dry up,
and the whirlwind carries them off like straw.
25 “With whom, then, will you compare me?
With whom am I equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Turn your eyes to the heavens!
See who created these?
He brings out the army of them in sequence,
summoning each by name.
Through his great might and his massive strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Ya‘akov;
why do you say, Isra’el,
“My way is hidden from Adonai,
my rights are ignored by my God”?
28 Haven’t you known, haven’t you heard
that the everlasting God, Adonai,
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
does not grow tired or weary?
His understanding cannot be fathomed.
29 He invigorates the exhausted,
he gives strength to the powerless.
30 Young men may grow tired and weary,
even the fittest may stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in Adonai will renew their strength,
they will soar aloft as with eagles’ wings;
when they are running they won’t grow weary,
when they are walking they won’t get tired.
41 “Keep silence before me, coastlands!
Let the peoples replenish their strength!
Let them approach; then let them speak.
Let us assemble for judgment.”
2 Who has raised from the east one who is just
and called him to be in his service?
He hands nations over to him
and subjects kings to him;
his sword reduces them to dust,
his bow to driven straw.
3 He pursues them, passing on unscathed,
hardly touching the path with his feet.
4 Whose work is this? Who has brought it about?
He who called the generations from the beginning,
“I, Adonai, am the first;
and I am the same with those who are last.”
5 The coastlands have seen and became afraid.
The ends of the earth have trembled.
They have approached, and now they have come.
6 Every one helps his fellow workman,
everyone says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 The woodworker encourages the goldsmith,
the polisher encourages the hammerer;
he says of the soldering, “Yes, that’s good,”
then puts nails in [the idol] to keep it from moving.
8 “But you, Isra’el, my servant;
Ya‘akov, whom I have chosen,
descendants of Avraham my friend,
9 I have taken you from the ends of the earth,
summoned you from its most distant parts
and said to you, ‘You are my servant’ —
I have chosen you, not rejected you.
10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you;
don’t be distressed, for I am your God.
I give you strength, I give you help,
I support you with my victorious right hand.
11 All those who were angry with you
will be disgraced, put to shame;
those who fought against you
will be destroyed, brought to nothing.
12 You will seek them but not find them,
those who contended with you;
yes, those who made war with you
will be brought to nothing, nothing at all.
13 For I, Adonai, your God,
say to you, as I hold your right hand,
‘Have no fear; I will help you.
14 Have no fear, Ya‘akov, you worm,
you men of Isra’el!’
I will help you,” says Adonai;
“Your redeemer is the Holy One of Isra’el.
15 “I will make you into a threshing-sledge,
new, with sharp, pointed teeth,
to thresh the mountains and crush them to dust,
to reduce the hills to chaff.
16 As you fan them, the wind will carry them off,
and the whirlwind will scatter them.
Then you will rejoice in Adonai,
you will glory in the Holy One of Isra’el.
17 “The poor and needy look for water in vain;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, Adonai, will answer them.
I, the God of Isra’el, will not leave them.
18 I will open up rivers on the barren hills
and wells down in the broad valleys.
I will turn the desert into a lake
and dry ground into springs.
19 I will plant the desert with cedars,
acacias, myrtles and olive trees;
In the ‘Aravah I will put cypresses
together with elm trees and larches.”
20 Then the people will see and know,
together observe and understand
that the hand of Adonai has done this,
that the Holy One of Isra’el created it.
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.
13 “See how my servant will succeed!
He will be raised up, exalted, highly honored!
14 Just as many were appalled at him,
because he was so disfigured
that he didn’t even seem human
and simply no longer looked like a man,
15 so now he will startle many nations;
because of him, kings will be speechless.
For they will see what they had not been told,
they will ponder things they had never heard.”
53 Who believes our report?
To whom is the arm of Adonai revealed?
2 For before him he grew up like a young plant,
like a root out of dry ground.
He was not well-formed or especially handsome;
we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us.
3 People despised and avoided him,
a man of pains, well acquainted with illness.
Like someone from whom people turn their faces,
he was despised; we did not value him.
4 In fact, it was our diseases he bore,
our pains from which he suffered;
yet we regarded him as punished,
stricken and afflicted by God.
5 But he was wounded because of our crimes,
crushed because of our sins;
the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him,
and by his bruises* we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, went astray;
we turned, each one, to his own way;
yet Adonai laid on him
the guilt of all of us.
7 Though mistreated, he was submissive —
he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to be slaughtered,
like a sheep silent before its shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8 After forcible arrest and sentencing,
he was taken away;
and none of his generation protested
his being cut off from the land of the living
for the crimes of my people,
who deserved the punishment themselves.
9 He was given a grave among the wicked;
in his death he was with a rich man.
Although he had done no violence
and had said nothing deceptive,
10 yet it pleased Adonai to crush him with illness,
to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering.
If he does, he will see his offspring;
and he will prolong his days;
and at his hand Adonai’s desire
will be accomplished.
11 After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction.
“By his knowing [pain and sacrifice],
my righteous servant makes many righteous;
it is for their sins that he suffers.
12 Therefore I will assign him a share with the great,
he will divide the spoil with the mighty,
for having exposed himself to death
and being counted among the sinners,
while actually bearing the sin of many
and interceding for the offenders.”
54 “Sing, barren woman who has never had a child!
Burst into song, shout for joy,
you who have never been in labor!
For the deserted wife will have more children
than the woman who is living with her husband,” says Adonai.
2 Enlarge the space for your tent,
extend the curtains of your dwelling;
do not hold back, lengthen your cords,
make your tent pegs firm.
3 For you will spread out to the right and the left,
your descendants will possess the nations
and inhabit the desolated cities.
4 Don’t be afraid, for you won’t be ashamed;
don’t be discouraged, for you won’t be disgraced.
You will forget the shame of your youth,
no longer remember the dishonor of being widowed.
5 For your husband is your Maker,
Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name.
The Holy One of Isra’el is your Redeemer.
He will be called the God of all the earth.
6 For Adonai has called you back
like a wife abandoned and grief-stricken;
“A wife married in her youth
cannot be rejected,” says your God.
7 “Briefly I abandoned you,
but with great compassion I am taking you back.
8 I was angry for a moment
and hid my face from you;
but with everlasting grace
I will have compassion on you,”
says Adonai your Redeemer.
9 “For me this is like Noach’s flood.
Just as I swore that no flood like Noach’s
would ever again cover the earth,
so now I swear that never again
will I be angry with you or rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may leave and the hills be removed,
but my grace will never leave you,
and my covenant of peace will not be removed,”
says Adonai, who has compassion on you.
11 “Storm-ravaged [city], unconsoled,
I will set your stones in the finest way,
lay your foundations with sapphires,
12 make your windows shine with rubies,
your gates with garnet, your walls with gemstones.
13 All your children will be taught by Adonai;
your children will have great peace.
14 In righteousness you will be established,
far from oppression, with nothing to fear;
far from ruin, for it will not come near you.
15 Any alliance that forms against you
will not be my doing;
whoever tries to form such an alliance
will fall because of you.
16 It is I who created the craftsman
who blows on the coals and forges weapons
suited to their purpose;
I also created the destroyer to work havoc.
17 No weapon made will prevail against you.
In court you will refute every accusation.
The servants of Adonai inherit all this;
the reward for their righteousness is from me,”
says Adonai.
55 “All you who are thirsty, come to the water!
You without money, come, buy, and eat!
Yes, come! Buy wine and milk
without money — it’s free!
2 Why spend money for what isn’t food,
your wages for what doesn’t satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and you will eat well,
you will enjoy the fat of the land.
3 Open your ears, and come to me;
listen well, and you will live —
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
the grace I assured David.
4 I have given him as a witness to the peoples,
a leader and lawgiver for the peoples.
5 You will summon a nation you do not know,
and a nation that doesn’t know you will run to you,
for the sake of Adonai your God,
the Holy One of Isra’el, who will glorify you.”
6 Seek Adonai while he is available,
call on him while he is still nearby.
7 Let the wicked person abandon his way
and the evil person his thoughts;
let him return to Adonai,
and he will have mercy on him;
let him return to our God,
for he will freely forgive.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways,” says Adonai.
9 “As high as the sky is above the earth
are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For just as rain and snow fall from the sky
and do not return there, but water the earth,
causing it to bud and produce,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth —
it will not return to me unfulfilled;
but it will accomplish what I intend,
and cause to succeed what I sent it to do.”
12 Yes, you will go out with joy,
you will be led forth in peace.
As you come, the mountains and hills
will burst out into song,
and all the trees in the countryside
will clap their hands.
13 Cypresses will grow in place of thorns,
myrtles will grow instead of briars.
This will bring fame to Adonai
as an eternal, imperishable sign.
56 Here is what Adonai says:
“Observe justice, do what is right,
for my salvation is close to coming,
my righteousness to being revealed.”
2 Happy is the person who does this,
anyone who grasps it firmly,
who keeps Shabbat and does not profane it,
and keeps himself from doing any evil.
3 A foreigner joining Adonai should not say,
“Adonai will separate me from his people”;
likewise the eunuch should not say,
“I am only a dried-up tree.”
4 For here is what Adonai says:
“As for the eunuchs who keep my Shabbats,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant:
5 in my house, within my walls,
I will give them power and a name
greater than sons and daughters;
I will give him an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.
6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to Adonai
to serve him, to love the name of Adonai,
and to be his workers,
all who keep Shabbat and do not profane it,
and hold fast to my covenant,
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.”
8 Adonai Elohim says,
he who gathers Isra’el’s exiles:
“There are yet others I will gather,
besides those gathered already.”
9 All you wild animals, come and devour,
yes, all you animals in the forest!
10 [Isra’el’s] watchmen are, all of them, blind;
they don’t know anything.
They are all dumb dogs, unable to bark,
lying there dreaming, loving to sleep.
11 Greedy dogs, never satisfied —
such are the shepherds, unable to understand;
they all turn to their own way,
each one intent on his own gain:
12 “Come, I’ll get some wine,
we’ll fill up on good, strong liquor!
Tomorrow will be like today;
in fact, it will be even better!”
57 The righteous person perishes,
and nobody gives it a thought.
Godly men are taken away,
and no one understands
that the righteous person is taken away
from the evil yet to come.
2 Yes, those who live uprightly
will have peace as they rest on their couches.
3 “But you, you witches’ children, come here,
you spawn of adulterers and whores!
4 Whom are you making fun of?
At whom are you laughing and sticking out your tongue?
Aren’t you rebellious children,
just a brood of liars?
5 You go into heat among the oak trees,
under every spreading tree.
You kill the children in the valleys
under the cracks in the rocks.
6 Your place is among the smooth stones in the vadi;
these, these are what you deserve;
you pour out drink offerings to them,
you offer grain offerings to them.
Should I calmly ignore these things?
7 You set up your bed on a high, lofty mountain;
you also went up there to offer sacrifices.
8 Behind door and doorpost
you set up your [lewd] memorial;
then, far from me, you uncovered your bed,
climbed up on it and opened it wide,
made an agreement with some of them,
whose bed you loved when you saw their hand beckoning.
9 You went to the king with scented oil;
you added to your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far away,
even down to Sh’ol.
10 Though worn out by so much travel,
you did not say, ‘All hope is gone’;
rather, finding your strength renewed,
you did not grow weak.
11 Of whom have you been so afraid,
so fearful that you lied?
But me you don’t remember,
you don’t give me a thought!
I have held my peace so long
that you no longer fear me.
12 I will expose your [so-called] ‘righteousness’;
and what you have done won’t help you.
13 When you cry, will those [idols] you gathered rescue you?
The wind will carry them all away,
a puff of air will take them off.
But whoever takes refuge in me will possess
the land and inherit my holy mountain.”
14 Then he will say,
“Keep building! Keep building! Clear the way!
Remove everything blocking my people’s path!”
15 For thus says the High, Exalted One
who lives forever, whose name is Holy:
“I live in the high and holy place
but also with the broken and humble,
in order to revive the spirit of the humble
and revive the hearts of the broken ones.
16 For I will not fight them forever
or always nurse my anger;
otherwise their spirits would faint before me,
the creatures I myself have made.
17 It was because of their flagrant greed
that I was angry and struck them;
I hid myself and was angry,
but they continued on their own rebellious way.
18 I have seen their ways, and I will heal them;
I will lead them and give comfort
to them and to those who mourn for them —
19 I will create the right words:
‘Shalom shalom to those far off
and to those nearby!’ says Adonai;
‘I will heal them!’”
20 But the wicked are like the restless sea —
unable to be still,
its waters toss up mud and dirt.
21 There is no shalom, says my God,
for the wicked.
58 Shout out loud! Don’t hold back!
Raise your voice like a shofar!
Proclaim to my people what rebels they are,
to the house of Ya‘akov their sins.
2 “Oh yes, they seek me day after day
and [claim to] delight in knowing my ways.
As if they were an upright nation
that had not abandoned the rulings of their God,
they ask me for just rulings
and [claim] to take pleasure in closeness to God,
3 [asking,] ‘Why should we fast, if you don’t see?
Why mortify ourselves, if you don’t notice?’
“Here is my answer: when you fast,
you go about doing whatever you like,
while keeping your laborers hard at work.
4 Your fasts lead to quarreling and fighting,
to lashing out with violent blows.
On a day like today, fasting like yours
will not make your voice heard on high.
5 “Is this the sort of fast I want,
a day when a person mortifies himself?
Is the object to hang your head like a reed
and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day that pleases Adonai?
6 “Here is the sort of fast I want —
releasing those unjustly bound,
untying the thongs of the yoke,
letting the oppressed go free,
breaking every yoke,
7 sharing your food with the hungry,
taking the homeless poor into your house,
clothing the naked when you see them,
fulfilling your duty to your kinsmen!”
8 Then your light will burst forth like the morning,
your new skin will quickly grow over your wound;
your righteousness will precede you,
and Adonai’s glory will follow you.
9 Then you will call, and Adonai will answer;
you will cry, and he will say, “Here I am.”
If you will remove the yoke from among you,
stop false accusation and slander,
10 generously offer food to the hungry
and meet the needs of the person in trouble;
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your gloom become like noon.
11 Adonai will always guide you;
he will satisfy your needs in the desert,
he will renew the strength in your limbs;
so that you will be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.
12 You will rebuild the ancient ruins,
raise foundations from ages past,
and be called “Repairer of broken walls,
Restorer of streets to live in.”
13 “If you hold back your foot on Shabbat
from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call Shabbat a delight,
Adonai’s holy day, worth honoring;
then honor it by not doing your usual things
or pursuing your interests or speaking about them.
14 If you do, you will find delight in Adonai —
I will make you ride on the heights of the land
and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya‘akov,
for the mouth of Adonai has spoken.”
59 Adonai’s arm is not too short to save,
nor is his ear too dull to hear.
2 Rather, it is your own crimes
that separate you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he doesn’t hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with crime;
your lips speak lies,
your tongues utter wicked things.
4 No one sues with just cause,
no one pleads honestly in court,
they trust in empty words
and say worthless things;
they conceive trouble
and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch viper eggs
and spin spiderwebs;
whoever eats their eggs dies,
and the crushed egg hatches a snake.
6 Their webs are useless as clothing,
their deeds are useless for wearing;
their deeds are deeds of wickedness,
their hands produce violence.
7 Their feet run to evil,
they rush to shed innocent blood,
their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness,
their paths lead to havoc and ruin.
8 The way of shalom they do not know,
their goings-about obey no law,
they make devious paths for themselves;
no one treading them will ever know shalom.
9 This is why justice is far from us,
and righteousness doesn’t catch up with us;
we look for light, but see only darkness,
for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope for the wall like the blind;
like people without eyes we feel our way;
we stumble at noonday as if it were dusk,
we are in dark places like the dead.
11 We growl, all of us, like bears
and moan pitifully like doves;
we look for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our crimes multiply before you,
our sins testify against us;
for our crimes are present with us;
and our sins, we know them well:
13 rebelling and denying Adonai,
turning away from following our God,
talking about oppression and revolt,
uttering lies which our hearts have conceived.
14 Thus justice is repelled,
righteousness stands apart, at a distance;
for truth stumbles in the public court,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Honesty is lacking,
he who leaves evil becomes a target.
Adonai saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
was amazed that no one interceded.
Therefore his own arm brought him salvation,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
salvation as a helmet on his head;
he clothed himself with garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in a mantle of zeal.
18 He repays according to their deeds —
fury to his foes, reprisal to his enemies;
to the coastlands he will repay their due;
19 in the west they will fear the name of Adonai,
and likewise, in the east, his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up stream,
impelled by the Spirit of Adonai.
20 “Then a Redeemer will come to Tziyon,
to those in Ya‘akov who turn from rebellion.”
So says Adonai.
21 “And as for me,” says Adonai,
“this is my covenant with them:
my Spirit, who rests on you,
and my words which I put in your mouth
will not depart from your mouth
or from the mouth of your children,
or from the mouth of your children’s children,
now or ever,” says Adonai.
60 “Arise, shine [Yerushalayim],
for your light has come,
the glory of Adonai
has risen over you.
2 For although darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness the peoples;
on you Adonai will rise;
over you will be seen his glory.
3 Nations will go toward your light
and kings toward your shining splendor.
4 Raise your eyes and look around:
they are all assembling and coming to you;
your sons are coming from far off,
your daughters being carried on their nurses’ hips.
5 Then you will see and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with delight;
for the riches of the seas will be brought to you,
the wealth of nations will come to you.
6 Caravans of camels will cover your land,
young camels from Midyan and ‘Eifah,
all of them coming from Sh’va,
bringing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of Adonai.
7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered for you,
the rams of N’vayot will be at your service;
they will come up and be received on my altar,
as I glorify my glorious house.
8 “Who are these, flying along like clouds,
like doves to their dovecotes?
9 The coastlands are putting their hope in me,
with the ‘Tarshish’ ships in the lead,
to bring your children from far away,
and with them their silver and gold,
for the sake of Adonai your God,
the Holy One of Isra’el, who glorifies you.
10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
their kings will be at your service;
for in my anger I struck you,
but in my mercy I pity you.
11 Your gates will always be open,
they will not be shut by day or by night,
so that people can bring you the wealth of nations,
with their kings led in procession.
12 For the nation or kingdom that won’t serve you will perish;
yes, those nations will be utterly destroyed.
13 “The glory of the L’vanon will come to you,
cypresses together with elm trees and larches,
to beautify the site of my sanctuary —
I will glorify the place where I stand.
14 The children of your oppressors will come
and bow low before you,
all who despised you will fall at your feet,
calling you the city of Adonai,
Tziyon of the Holy One of Isra’el.
15 “In the past you were abandoned and hated,
so that no one would even pass through you;
but now I will make you the pride of the ages,
a joy for many generations.
16 You will drink the milk of nations,
you will nurse at royal breasts
and know that I, Adonai, am your Savior,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya‘akov.
17 “For bronze I will bring you gold,
for iron I will bring you silver,
bronze in place of wood,
and iron in place of stones.
I will make shalom your governor
and righteousness your taskmaster.
18 Violence will no longer be heard in your land,
desolation or destruction within your borders;
instead, you will call your walls Salvation
and your gates Praise.
19 “No more will the sun be your light by day,
nor will moonlight shine on you;
instead Adonai will be your light forever
and your God your glory.
20 No longer will your sun go down;
your moon will no longer wane;
for Adonai will be your light forever;
your days of mourning will end.
21 All your people will be tzaddikim;
they will inherit the land forever;
they will be the branch I planted,
my handiwork, in which I take pride.
22 The smallest will grow to a thousand,
the weakest will become a mighty nation.
I, Adonai, when the right time comes,
will quickly bring it about.”
61 The Spirit of Adonai Elohim is upon me,
because Adonai has anointed me
to announce good news to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted;
to proclaim freedom to the captives,
to let out into light those bound in the dark;
2 to proclaim the year of the favor of Adonai
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn,
3 yes, provide for those in Tziyon who mourn,
giving them garlands instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
a cloak of praise instead of a heavy spirit,
so that they will be called oaks of righteousness
planted by Adonai, in which he takes pride.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins,
restore sites long destroyed;
they will renew the ruined cities,
destroyed many generations ago.
5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,
foreigners plow your land and tend your vines;
6 but you will be called cohanim of Adonai,
spoken of as ministers to our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and revel in their riches.
7 Because of your shame, which was doubled,
and because they cried, “They deserve disgrace,”
therefore in their land what they own will be doubled,
and joy forever will be theirs.
8 “For I, Adonai, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offerings.
So I will be faithful to reward them
and make an eternal covenant with them.”
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations,
their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them will acknowledge
that they are the seed Adonai has blessed.
10 I am so joyful in Adonai!
My soul rejoices in my God,
for he has clothed me in salvation,
dressed me with a robe of triumph,
like a bridegroom wearing a festive turban,
like a bride adorned with her jewels.
11 For just as the earth brings forth its plants,
or a garden makes its plants spring up,
so Adonai, God, will cause victory and glory
to spring up before all nations.
62 For Tziyon’s sake I will not be silent,
for Yerushalayim’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out brightly
and her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication
and all kings your glory.
Then you will be called by a new name
which Adonai himself will pronounce.
3 You will be a glorious crown in the hand of Adonai,
a royal diadem held by your God.
4 You will no longer be spoken of as ‘Azuvah [Abandoned]
or your land be spoken of as ‘Sh’mamah [Desolate];
rather, you will be called Heftzi-Vah [My-Delight-Is-In-Her]
and your land Be‘ulah [Married].
For Adonai delights in you,
and your land will be married —
5 as a young man marries a young woman,
your sons will marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
your God will rejoice over you.
6 I have posted watchmen
on your walls, Yerushalayim;
they will never fall silent,
neither by day nor by night.
You who call on Adonai,
give yourselves no rest;
7 and give him no rest till he restores Yerushalayim
and makes it a praise on earth.
8 Adonai has sworn by his right hand
and by his mighty arm:
“Never again will I give your grain
to your enemies as food;
nor will strangers drink your wine,
for which you worked so hard;
9 but those who harvest the grain will eat it
with praises to Adonai;
those who gathered the wine will drink it
in the courtyards of my sanctuary.”
10 Go on through, go on through the gates,
clear the way for the people!
Build up a highway, build it up!
Clear away the stones!
Raise a banner for the peoples!
11 Adonai has proclaimed to the end of the earth,
“Say to the daughter of Tziyon,
‘Here, your Salvation is coming!
Here, his reward is with him,
and his recompense is before him.’”
12 They will call them The Holy People,
The Redeemed of Adonai.
You will be called D’rushah [Sought-After],
‘Ir Lo Ne‘ezvah [City-No-Longer-Abandoned].
63 Who is this, coming from Edom,
from Botzrah with clothing stained crimson,
so magnificently dressed,
so stately in his great strength?
“It is I, who speak victoriously,
I, well able to save.”
2 Why is your apparel red,
your clothes like someone treading a winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone;
from the peoples, not one was with me.
So I trod them in my anger,
trampled them in my fury;
so their lifeblood spurted out on my clothing,
and I have stained all my garments;
4 for the day of vengeance that was in my heart
and my year of redemption have come.
5 I looked, but there was no one to help,
and I was appalled that no one upheld me.
Therefore my own arm brought me salvation,
and my own fury upheld me.
6 In my anger I trod down the peoples,
made them drunk with my fury,
then poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
7 I will recall the grace of Adonai
and the praises of Adonai,
because of all that Adonai has granted us
and his great goodness toward the house of Isra’el,
which he bestowed on them in keeping with his mercy,
in keeping with the greatness of his grace.
8 For he said, “They are indeed my people,
children who are not disloyal.”
So he became their Savior.
9 In all their troubles he was troubled;
then the Angel of His Presence saved them;
in his love and pity he redeemed them.
He had lifted them up and carried them
throughout the days of old.
10 However, they rebelled,
they grieved his Holy Spirit;
so he became their enemy
and himself fought against them.
11 But then his people remembered
the days of old, the days of Moshe:
“Where is he who brought them up from the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put his Holy Spirit
right there among them,
12 who caused his glorious arm to go
at Moshe’s right hand?
He divided the water ahead of them,
to make himself an eternal name;
13 he led them through the deep
like a sure-footed horse through the desert;
14 like cattle going down into a valley
the Spirit of Adonai had them rest.
This is how you led your people,
to make yourself a glorious name.”
15 Look down from heaven; and see
from your holy, glorious dwelling.
Where are your zeal and your mighty deeds,
your inner concern and compassion?
Don’t hold back, 16 for you are our father.
Even if Avraham were not to know us,
and Isra’el were not to acknowledge us,
you, Adonai, are our father,
Our Redeemer of Old is your name.
17 Adonai, why do you let us wander from your ways
and harden our hearts, so that we do not fear you?
Return, for the sake of your servants,
the tribes who are your possession.
18 Your holy people held your sanctuary such a short time,
before our adversaries trampled it down.
19 For so long we have been like those you never ruled,
like those who were not called by your name!
(64:1) We wish you would tear open heaven and come down,
so the mountains would shake at your presence!
64 (2) It would be like fire kindling the brush,
and the fire then makes the water boil.
Then your enemies would know your name,
the nations would tremble before you!
2 (3) When you did tremendous things
that we were not expecting,
we wished that you would come down,
so that the mountains would shake at your presence!
3 (4) No one has ever heard,
no ear perceived, no eye seen,
any God but you.
You work for him who waits for you.
4 (5) You favored those who were glad to do justice,
those who remembered you in your ways.
When you were angry, we kept sinning;
but if we keep your ancient ways, we will be saved.
5 (6) All of us are like someone unclean,
all our righteous deeds like menstrual rags;
we wither, all of us, like leaves;
and our misdeeds blow us away like the wind.
6 (7) No one calls on your name
or bestirs himself to take hold of you,
for you have hidden your face from us
and caused our misdeeds to destroy us.
7 (8) But now, Adonai, you are our father;
we are the clay, you are our potter;
and we are all the work of your hands.
8 (9) Do not be so very angry, Adonai!
Don’t remember crime forever.
Look, please, we are all your people.
9 (10) Your holy cities have become a desert,
Tziyon a desert, Yerushalayim a ruin.
10 (11) Our holy, beautiful house,
where our ancestors used to praise you,
has been burned to the ground;
all we cherished has been ruined.
11 (12) Adonai, after all this,
will you still hold back?
Will you still stay silent
and punish us past endurance?
65 “I made myself accessible
to those who didn’t ask for me,
I let myself be found
by those who didn’t seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
to a nation not called by my name.
2 I spread out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people
who live in a way that is not good,
who follow their own inclinations;
3 a people who provoke me to my face all the time,
sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks.
4 They sit among the graves
and spend the night in caverns;
they eat pig meat
and their pots hold soup made from disgusting things.
5 They say, ‘Keep your distance, don’t come near me,
because I am holier than you.’
These are smoke in my nose,
a fire that burns all day!
6 See, it is written before me;
I will not be silent until I repay them;
I will repay them to the full,
7 your own crimes and those of your ancestors together,”
says Adonai.
“They offered incense on the mountains
and insulted me on the hills.
First I will measure out their wages
and then repay them in full.”
8 Here is what Adonai says:
“As when juice is found in a cluster of grapes,
and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is still some good in it,’
so I will do likewise for the sake of my servants,
and not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Ya‘akov,
heirs of my mountains from Y’hudah;
my chosen ones will possess them,
and my servants will live there.
10 The Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,
the Akhor Valley a place for cattle to rest,
for my people who have sought me.
11 “But as for you who abandon Adonai,
who forget my holy mountain,
who prepare a table for a Gad, a god of luck,
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Meni, a god of destiny —
12 I will destine you to the sword,
you will all bow down to be slaughtered;
because when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not hear,
but did what was evil from my point of view
and chose what did not please me.”
13 Therefore this is what Adonai Elohim says:
“My servants will eat, while you go hungry;
my servants will drink, while you go thirsty.
My servants will rejoice,
while you will be ashamed.
14 Yes, my servants will sing for joy from their hearts,
but you will cry out from the pain in your heart
and howl from an anguished spirit.
15 My chosen will use your name as a curse —
‘May Adonai Elohim strike you dead!’
But to his servants he will give another name.
16 Thus someone on earth who blesses himself
will bless himself by the God of truth,
and someone on earth who swears an oath
will swear by the God of truth;
for past troubles will be forgotten,
hidden from my eyes.
17 “For, look! I create new heavens
and a new earth;
past things will not be remembered,
they will no more come to mind.
18 So be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for look! I am making Yerushalayim a joy,
and her people a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Yerushalayim
and take joy in my people.
The sound of weeping will no longer be heard in it,
no longer the sound of crying.
20 No more will babies die in infancy,
no more will an old man die short of his days —
he who dies at a hundred will be thought young,
and at less than a hundred thought cursed.
21 They will build houses and live in them,
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build and others live there,
they will not plant and others eat;
for the days of my people
will be like the days of a tree,
and my chosen will themselves enjoy
the use of what they make.
23 They will not toil in vain
or raise children to be destroyed,
for they are the seed blessed by Adonai;
and their offspring with them.
24 Before they call, I will answer;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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