² “Who has stirred^(F) up one from the east,^(G)
    calling him in righteousness^(H) to his service^[a]?^(I)
He hands nations over to him
    and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust^(J) with his sword,
    to windblown chaff^(K) with his bow.^(L)
3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed,^(M)
    by a path his feet have not traveled before.
⁴ Who has done this and carried it through,
    calling^(N) forth the generations from the beginning?^(O)
I, the Lord—with the first of them
    and with the last^(P)—I am he.^(Q)”

⁵ The islands^(R) have seen it and fear;
    the ends of the earth^(S) tremble.
They approach and come forward;
⁶     they help each other
    and say to their companions, “Be strong!^(T)”
⁷ The metalworker^(U) encourages the goldsmith,^(V)
    and the one who smooths with the hammer
    spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.
One says of the welding, “It is good.”
    The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.^(W)

⁸ “But you, Israel, my servant,^(X)
    Jacob, whom I have chosen,^(Y)
    you descendants of Abraham^(Z) my friend,^(AA)
9 I took you from the ends of the earth,^(AB)
    from its farthest corners I called^(AC) you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;^(AD)
    I have chosen^(AE) you and have not rejected you.
¹⁰ So do not fear,^(AF) for I am with you;^(AG)
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen^(AH) you and help^(AI) you;
    I will uphold you^(AJ) with my righteous right hand.^(AK)

¹¹ “All who rage^(AL) against you
    will surely be ashamed and disgraced;^(AM)
those who oppose^(AN) you
    will be as nothing and perish.^(AO)
12 Though you search for your enemies,
    you will not find them.^(AP)
Those who wage war against you
    will be as nothing^(AQ) at all.
¹³ For I am the Lord your God
    who takes hold of your right hand^(AR)
and says to you, Do not fear;
    I will help^(AS) you.
¹⁴ Do not be afraid,^(AT) you worm^(AU) Jacob,
    little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help^(AV) you,” declares the Lord,
    your Redeemer,^(AW) the Holy One^(AX) of Israel.
¹⁵ “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,^(AY)
    new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains^(AZ) and crush them,
    and reduce the hills to chaff.^(BA)
16 You will winnow^(BB) them, the wind will pick them up,
    and a gale^(BC) will blow them away.^(BD)
But you will rejoice^(BE) in the Lord
    and glory^(BF) in the Holy One^(BG) of Israel.

¹⁷ “The poor and needy search for water,^(BH)
    but there is none;
    their tongues are parched with thirst.^(BI)
But I the Lord will answer^(BJ) them;
    I, the God of Israel, will not forsake^(BK) them.
¹⁸ I will make rivers flow^(BL) on barren heights,
    and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert^(BM) into pools of water,^(BN)
    and the parched ground into springs.^(BO)
19 I will put in the desert^(BP)
    the cedar and the acacia,^(BQ) the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers^(BR) in the wasteland,
    the fir and the cypress^(BS) together,^(BT)
20 so that people may see and know,^(BU)
    may consider and understand,^(BV)
that the hand^(BW) of the Lord has done this,
    that the Holy One^(BX) of Israel has created^(BY) it.

²¹ “Present your case,^(BZ)” says the Lord.
    “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.^(CA)
22 “Tell us, you idols,
    what is going to happen.^(CB)
Tell us what the former things^(CC) were,
    so that we may consider them
    and know their final outcome.
Or declare to us the things to come,^(CD)
23     tell us what the future holds,
    so we may know^(CE) that you are gods.
Do something, whether good or bad,^(CF)
    so that we will be dismayed^(CG) and filled with fear.
²⁴ But you are less than nothing^(CH)
    and your works are utterly worthless;^(CI)
    whoever chooses you is detestable.^(CJ)

²⁵ “I have stirred^(CK) up one from the north,^(CL) and he comes—
    one from the rising sun who calls on my name.
He treads^(CM) on rulers as if they were mortar,
    as if he were a potter treading the clay.
²⁶ Who told of this from the beginning,^(CN) so we could know,
    or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’?
No one told of this,
    no one foretold^(CO) it,
    no one heard any words^(CP) from you.
²⁷ I was the first to tell^(CQ) Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’
    I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.^(CR)
28 I look but there is no one^(CS)—
    no one among the gods to give counsel,^(CT)
    no one to give answer^(CU) when I ask them.
²⁹ See, they are all false!
    Their deeds amount to nothing;^(CV)
    their images^(CW) are but wind^(CX) and confusion.

⁶ “Because this people has rejected^(K)
    the gently flowing waters of Shiloah^(L)
and rejoices over Rezin
    and the son of Remaliah,^(M)
7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them
    the mighty floodwaters^(N) of the Euphrates—
    the king of Assyria^(O) with all his pomp.^(P)
It will overflow all its channels,
    run over all its banks^(Q)
8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,^(R)
    passing through it and reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings^(S) will cover the breadth of your land,
    Immanuel^[b]!”^(T)

⁹ Raise the war cry,^[c](U) you nations, and be shattered!^(V)
    Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare^(W) for battle, and be shattered!
    Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
¹⁰ Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;^(X)
    propose your plan, but it will not stand,^(Y)
    for God is with us.^[d](Z)

¹² “Do not call conspiracy^(AC)
    everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,^(AD)
    and do not dread it.^(AE)
13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,^(AF)
    he is the one you are to fear,^(AG)
    he is the one you are to dread.^(AH)
14 He will be a holy place;^(AI)
    for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone^(AJ) that causes people to stumble^(AK)
    and a rock that makes them fall.^(AL)
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
    a trap and a snare.^(AM)
15 Many of them will stumble;^(AN)
    they will fall and be broken,
    they will be snared and captured.”

¹⁶ Bind up this testimony of warning^(AO)
    and seal^(AP) up God’s instruction among my disciples.
¹⁷ I will wait^(AQ) for the Lord,
    who is hiding^(AR) his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.^(AS)

² The people walking in darkness^(BL)
    have seen a great light;^(BM)
on those living in the land of deep darkness^(BN)
    a light has dawned.^(BO)
3 You have enlarged the nation^(BP)
    and increased their joy;^(BQ)
they rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
    when dividing the plunder.^(BR)
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,^(BS)
    you have shattered^(BT)
the yoke^(BU) that burdens them,
    the bar across their shoulders,^(BV)
    the rod of their oppressor.^(BW)
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
    and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,^(BX)
    will be fuel for the fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,^(BY)
    to us a son is given,^(BZ)
    and the government^(CA) will be on his shoulders.^(CB)
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor,^(CC) Mighty God,^(CD)
    Everlasting^(CE) Father,^(CF) Prince of Peace.^(CG)
7 Of the greatness of his government^(CH) and peace^(CI)
    there will be no end.^(CJ)
He will reign^(CK) on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice^(CL) and righteousness^(CM)
    from that time on and forever.^(CN)
The zeal^(CO) of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

Yet for all this, his anger^(DA) is not turned away,
    his hand is still upraised.^(DB)

¹³ But the people have not returned^(DC) to him who struck^(DD) them,
    nor have they sought^(DE) the Lord Almighty.
¹⁴ So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
    both palm branch and reed^(DF) in a single day;^(DG)
15 the elders^(DH) and dignitaries^(DI) are the head,
    the prophets^(DJ) who teach lies^(DK) are the tail.
¹⁶ Those who guide^(DL) this people mislead them,
    and those who are guided are led astray.^(DM)
17 Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,^(DN)
    nor will he pity^(DO) the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodly^(DP) and wicked,^(DQ)
    every mouth speaks folly.^(DR)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
    his hand is still upraised.^(DS)

¹⁸ Surely wickedness burns like a fire;^(DT)
    it consumes briers and thorns,^(DU)
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,^(DV)
    so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹ By the wrath^(DW) of the Lord Almighty
    the land will be scorched^(DX)
and the people will be fuel for the fire;^(DY)
    they will not spare one another.^(DZ)
20 On the right they will devour,
    but still be hungry;^(EA)
on the left they will eat,^(EB)
    but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring^[f]:
²¹     Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;^(EC)
    together they will turn against Judah.^(ED)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
    his hand is still upraised.^(EE)

10 Woe^(EF) to those who make unjust laws,
    to those who issue oppressive decrees,^(EG)
2 to deprive^(EH) the poor of their rights
    and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,^(EI)
making widows their prey
    and robbing the fatherless.^(EJ)
3 What will you do on the day of reckoning,^(EK)
    when disaster^(EL) comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?^(EM)
    Where will you leave your riches?
⁴ Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives^(EN)
    or fall among the slain.^(EO)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,^(EP)
    his hand is still upraised.

“‘By the strength of my hand^(FP) I have done this,^(FQ)
    and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.
I removed the boundaries of nations,
    I plundered their treasures;^(FR)
    like a mighty one I subdued^[g] their kings.^(FS)
14 As one reaches into a nest,^(FT)
    so my hand reached for the wealth^(FU) of the nations;
as people gather abandoned eggs,
    so I gathered all the countries;^(FV)
not one flapped a wing,
    or opened its mouth to chirp.^(FW)’”

¹⁵ Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it,
    or the saw boast against the one who uses it?^(FX)
As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up,
    or a club^(FY) brandish the one who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    will send a wasting disease^(FZ) upon his sturdy warriors;^(GA)
under his pomp^(GB) a fire^(GC) will be kindled
    like a blazing flame.
¹⁷ The Light of Israel will become a fire,^(GD)
    their Holy One^(GE) a flame;
in a single day it will burn and consume
    his thorns^(GF) and his briers.^(GG)
18 The splendor of his forests^(GH) and fertile fields
    it will completely destroy,^(GI)
    as when a sick person wastes away.
¹⁹ And the remaining trees of his forests^(GJ) will be so few^(GK)
    that a child could write them down.

“My people who live in Zion,^(GZ)
    do not be afraid^(HA) of the Assyrians,
who beat^(HB) you with a rod^(HC)
    and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
²⁵ Very soon^(HD) my anger against you will end
    and my wrath^(HE) will be directed to their destruction.^(HF)”

²⁶ The Lord Almighty will lash^(HG) them with a whip,
    as when he struck down Midian^(HH) at the rock of Oreb;
and he will raise his staff^(HI) over the waters,^(HJ)
    as he did in Egypt.
²⁷ In that day^(HK) their burden^(HL) will be lifted from your shoulders,
    their yoke^(HM) from your neck;^(HN)
the yoke^(HO) will be broken
    because you have grown so fat.^[i]

²⁸ They enter Aiath;
    they pass through Migron;^(HP)
    they store supplies^(HQ) at Mikmash.^(HR)
29 They go over the pass, and say,
    “We will camp overnight at Geba.^(HS)”
Ramah^(HT) trembles;
    Gibeah^(HU) of Saul flees.^(HV)
30 Cry out, Daughter Gallim!^(HW)
    Listen, Laishah!
    Poor Anathoth!^(HX)
31 Madmenah is in flight;
    the people of Gebim take cover.
³² This day they will halt at Nob;^(HY)
    they will shake their fist^(HZ)
at the mount of Daughter Zion,^(IA)
    at the hill of Jerusalem.

³³ See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    will lop off^(IB) the boughs with great power.
The lofty trees will be felled,^(IC)
    the tall^(ID) ones will be brought low.^(IE)
34 He will cut down^(IF) the forest thickets with an ax;
    Lebanon^(IG) will fall before the Mighty One.^(IH)