Isaiah 44-66
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God’s Blessing on Israel
44 But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!(A)
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
who formed you in the womb and will help you:
Do not fear, O Jacob my servant,
Jeshurun whom I have chosen.(B)
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my spirit upon your descendants
and my blessing on your offspring.(C)
4 They shall spring up like a green tamarisk,[a]
like willows by flowing streams.
5 This one will say, “I am the Lord’s”;
another will be called by the name of Jacob;
yet another will write on the hand, “The Lord’s,”
and adopt the name of Israel.(D)
6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
I am the first, and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.(E)
7 Who is like me? Let them proclaim it;
let them declare and set it forth before me.
Who has announced from of old the things to come?[b]
Let them tell us[c] what is yet to be.(F)
8 Do not fear or be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
You are my witnesses!
Is there any god besides me?
There is no other rock; I know not one.(G)
The Absurdity of Idol Worship
9 All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know, and so they will be put to shame.(H) 10 Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good?(I) 11 All its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans, too, are merely human. Let them all assemble; let them stand up; they shall be terrified; they shall all be put to shame.(J)
12 The blacksmith works it with a tool over the coals, shaping it with hammers and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.(K) 13 The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine.(L) 14 He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it.(M) 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it,[d] and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm[e] by the fire!” 17 The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god!”(N)
18 They do not know, nor do they comprehend, for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand.(O) 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”(P) 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?”(Q)
Israel Is Not Forgotten
21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you, you are my servant;
O Israel, do not forget me.[f](R)
22 I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.(S)
23 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
shout, O depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob
and will be glorified in Israel.(T)
24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who by myself spread out the earth;(U)
25 who frustrates the omens of soothsayers
and makes fools of diviners;
who turns back the wise
and makes their knowledge foolish;(V)
26 who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,
and I will raise up their ruins”;(W)
27 who says to the deep, “Be dry—
I will dry up your rivers”;(X)
28 who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
and he shall carry out all my purpose”;
and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”(Y)
Cyrus, God’s Instrument
45 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
and to strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
and the gates shall not be closed:(Z)
2 I will go before you
and level the mountains;[g]
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron;(AA)
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.(AB)
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name;
I give you a title, though you do not know me.(AC)
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,(AD)
6 so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.(AE)
7 I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things.(AF)
8 Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,[h]
and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;
I the Lord have created it.(AG)
9 Woe to those who strive with their Maker,
earthen vessels with the potter![i]
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”?
or “Your work has no handles”?(AH)
10 Woe to anyone who says to a father, “What are you fathering?”
or to a woman, “With what are you in labor?”
11 Thus says the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel and its Maker:
Will you question me[j] about my children
or command me concerning the work of my hands?(AI)
12 I made the earth
and created humankind upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.(AJ)
13 I have aroused Cyrus[k] in righteousness,
and I will make all his paths straight;
he shall build my city
and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,
says the Lord of hosts.(AK)
14 Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush
and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours;
they shall follow you;
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
“God is with you alone, and there is no other;
there is no god besides him.”(AL)
15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.(AM)
16 All of them are put to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in disgrace together.(AN)
17 But Israel is saved by the Lord
with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
ever again.(AO)
18 For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he did not create it a chaos;
he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.(AP)
19 I did not speak in secret
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
“Seek me in chaos.”
I the Lord speak the truth;
I declare what is right.(AQ)
Idols Cannot Save Babylon
20 Assemble yourselves and come together;
draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
those who carry about their wooden idols
and keep on praying to a god
that cannot save.(AR)
21 Declare and present your case;
take counsel together![l]
Who told this long ago?
Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is no one besides me.(AS)
22 Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.(AT)
23 By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
“To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear.”(AU)
24 Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and strength;
all who were incensed against him
shall come to him and be ashamed.(AV)
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall triumph and glory.(AW)
46 Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and cattle;
these things you carry are loaded
as burdens on weary animals.(AX)
2 They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden
but themselves go into captivity.(AY)
3 Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from your birth,
carried from the womb;(AZ)
4 even to your old age I am he;
even when you turn gray I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.(BA)
5 To whom will you liken me and make me equal
and compare me, as though we were alike?(BB)
6 Those who lavish gold from the purse
and weigh out silver in the scales—
they hire a goldsmith, who makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!(BC)
7 They lift it to their shoulders; they carry it;
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries out to it, it does not answer
or save anyone from trouble.(BD)
8 Remember this and consider;[m]
recall it to mind, you transgressors;(BE)
9 remember the former things of old,
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like me,(BF)
10 declaring the outcome from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, “My purpose shall stand,
and I will fulfill my intention,”(BG)
11 calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man for my purpose from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have planned, and I will do it.(BH)
12 Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from deliverance:(BI)
13 I bring near my deliverance; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not tarry;
I will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.(BJ)
The Humiliation of Babylon
47 Come down and sit in the dust,
virgin daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground without a throne,
daughter Chaldea!
For you shall no more be called
tender and delicate.(BK)
2 Take the millstones and grind meal;
remove your veil;
strip off your robe; uncover your legs;
pass through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your shame shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one.[n](BL)
4 Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.(BM)
5 Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
daughter Chaldea!
For you shall no more be called
the mistress of kingdoms.(BN)
6 I was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke
exceedingly heavy.(BO)
7 You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.(BP)
8 Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”—(BQ)
9 both these things shall come upon you
in a moment, in one day:
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.(BR)
10 You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge
led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”(BS)
11 But evil shall come upon you,
which you cannot charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
which you will not be able to ward off,
and ruin shall come on you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.(BT)
12 Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.(BU)
13 You are wearied with your many consultations;
let those who study[o] the heavens
stand up and save you,
those who gaze at the stars
and at each new moon predict
what[p] shall befall you.(BV)
14 See, they are like stubble;
the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!(BW)
15 Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have trafficked with you from your youth;
they all wander about in their own paths;
there is no one to save you.(BX)
God the Creator and Redeemer
48 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel
and who came forth from the loins[q] of Judah,
who swear by the name of the Lord
and invoke the God of Israel
but not in truth or right.(BY)
2 For they call themselves after the holy city
and lean on the God of Israel;
the Lord of hosts is his name.(BZ)
3 The former things I declared long ago;
they went out from my mouth, and I made them known;
then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.(CA)
4 Because I know that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead brass,(CB)
5 I declared them to you from long ago,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
so that you would not say, “My idol did them;
my carved image and my cast image commanded them.”(CC)
6 You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forward I tell you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.(CD)
7 They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
so that you could not say, “I already knew them.”
8 You have never heard; you have never known;
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would act very treacherously
and that from birth you were called a rebel.(CE)
9 For my name’s sake I defer my anger;
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
so that I may not cut you off.(CF)
10 See, I have refined you but not like[r] silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.(CG)
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for why should my name[s] be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.(CH)
12 Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called:
I am he; I am the first,
and I am the last.(CI)
13 My hand laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them,
they stand at attention.(CJ)
14 Assemble, all of you, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
The one the Lord loves shall perform his purpose against Babylon,
and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.(CK)
15 I, even I, have spoken and called him;
I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.(CL)
16 Draw near to me; hear this!
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;
from the time it came to be I have been there.
And now the Lord God has sent me and his spirit.(CM)
17 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you how to succeed,
who leads you in the way you should go.(CN)
18 O that you had paid attention to my commandments!
Then your prosperity would have been like a river
and your success like the waves of the sea;(CO)
19 your offspring would have been like the sand
and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before me.(CP)
20 Go out from Babylon; flee from Chaldea;
declare this with a shout of joy; proclaim it;
send it forth to the end of the earth;
say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”(CQ)
21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow for them from the rock;
he split open the rock, and the water gushed out.(CR)
22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”(CS)
The Servant’s Mission
49 Listen to me, O coastlands;
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born;
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.(CT)
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.(CU)
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”(CV)
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord
and my reward with my God.”(CW)
5 And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—(CX)
6 he says,
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”(CY)
7 Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
“Kings shall see and stand up;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”(CZ)
Zion’s Children to Be Brought Home
8 Thus says the Lord:
In a time of favor I have answered you;
on a day of salvation I have helped you;
I have kept you and given you
as a covenant to the people,[t]
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages,(DA)
9 saying to the prisoners, “Come out,”
to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
They shall feed along the ways;
on all the bare heights[u] shall be their pasture;(DB)
10 they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down,
for he who has pity on them will lead them
and by springs of water will guide them.(DC)
11 And I will turn all my mountains into a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.(DD)
12 Look, some shall come from far away,
some from the north and from the west,
and some from the land of Syene.[v](DE)
13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his suffering ones.(DF)
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”(DG)
15 Can a woman forget her nursing child
or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these might forget,
yet I will not forget you.(DH)
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.(DI)
17 Your builders outdo your destroyers,[w]
and those who laid you waste go away from you.(DJ)
18 Lift up your eyes all around and see;
they all gather; they come to you.
As I live, says the Lord,
you shall put all of them on like an ornament,
and like a bride you shall bind them on.(DK)
19 For your wastelands, your desolate places,
and your devastated land—
now you will be too crowded for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.(DL)
20 The children born in the time of your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing:
“The place is too crowded for me;
make room for me to settle.”(DM)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
“Who has borne me these?
I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away—
so who has reared these?
I was left all alone—
where, then, have these come from?”(DN)
22 Thus says the Lord God:
I will soon lift up my hand to the nations
and raise my signal to the peoples,
and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.(DO)
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers
and their queens your nursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you
and lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.(DP)
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty
or the captives of a tyrant[x] be rescued?
25 But thus says the Lord:
Even the captives of the mighty will be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant will be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.(DQ)
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
that I am the Lord your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.(DR)
50 Thus says the Lord:
Where is your mother’s bill of divorce
with which I dismissed her?
Or which of my creditors is it
to whom I have sold you?
No, because of your sins you were sold,
and for your transgressions your mother was dismissed.(DS)
2 Why was no one there when I came?
Why did no one answer when I called?
Is my arm powerless to redeem?
Or have I no strength to deliver?
By my rebuke I dry up the sea;
I make the rivers a desert,
so that their fish stink for lack of water
and die of thirst.[y](DT)
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness
and make sackcloth their covering.(DU)
The Servant’s Humiliation and Vindication
4 The Lord God has given me
a trained tongue,[z]
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens,
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.(DV)
5 The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I did not turn backward.(DW)
6 I gave my back to those who struck me
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.(DX)
7 The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;(DY)
8 he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand in court together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.(DZ)
9 It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.(EA)
10 Who among you fears the Lord
and obeys the voice of his servant,
who walks in darkness
and has no light,
yet trusts in the name of the Lord
and relies upon his God?(EB)
11 But all of you are kindlers of fire,
lighters of firebrands.[aa]
Walk in the flame of your fire
and among the brands that you have kindled!
This is what you shall have from my hand:
you shall lie down in torment.(EC)
Blessings in Store for God’s People
51 Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn
and to the quarry from which you were dug.(ED)
2 Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah, who bore you,
for he was but one when I called him,
but I blessed him and made him many.(EE)
3 For the Lord will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.(EF)
4 Listen to me, my people,
and give heed to me, my nation,
for a teaching will go out from me
and my justice for a light to the peoples.(EG)
5 I will bring near my deliverance swiftly;
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will rule the peoples;
the coastlands wait for me,
and for my arm they hope.(EH)
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens
and look at the earth beneath,
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and those who live on it will die like gnats,[ab]
but my salvation will be forever,
and my deliverance will never be ended.(EI)
7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
you people who have my teaching in your hearts;
do not fear the reproach of others,
and do not be dismayed when they revile you.(EJ)
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool,
but my deliverance will be forever
and my salvation to all generations.(EK)
9 Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord!
Awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago!
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?(EL)
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep;
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to cross over?(EM)
11 So the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with rejoicing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.(EN)
12 I, I am he who comforts you;
why then are you afraid of a mere mortal who must die,
a human being who fades like grass?(EO)
13 You have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.
You fear continually all day long
because of the fury of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction.
But where is the fury of the oppressor?(EP)
14 The oppressed shall speedily be released;
they shall not die and go down to the Pit,
nor shall they lack bread.(EQ)
15 For I am the Lord your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name.(ER)
16 I have put my words in your mouth
and hidden you in the shadow of my hand,
stretching out[ac] the heavens
and laying the foundations of the earth
and saying to Zion, “You are my people.”(ES)
17 Rouse yourself, rouse yourself!
Stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the cup of staggering.(ET)
18 There is no one to guide her
among all the children she has borne;
there is no one to take her by the hand
among all the children she has brought up.(EU)
19 These two things have befallen you
—who will grieve with you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword.
Who will comfort you?[ad](EV)
20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.(EW)
21 Therefore hear this, you who are wounded,[ae]
who are drunk but not with wine:(EX)
22 Thus says your Sovereign, the Lord,
your God who pleads the cause of his people:
See, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
you shall drink no more
from the cup of my wrath.(EY)
23 And I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
who have said to you,
“Bow down, that we may walk on you,”
and you have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to walk on.(EZ)
Let Zion Rejoice
52 Awake; awake;
put on your strength, O Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city,
for the uncircumcised and the unclean
shall enter you no more.(FA)
2 Shake yourself from the dust; rise up,
O captive[af] Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter Zion!(FB)
3 For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.(FC) 4 For thus says the Lord God: Long ago, my people went down into Egypt to reside there as aliens; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause.(FD) 5 Now therefore what am I doing here, says the Lord, seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Their rulers howl, says the Lord, and continually, all day long, my name is despised.(FE) 6 Therefore my people shall know my name; on[ag] that day they shall know that it is I who speak—it is I!(FF)
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”(FG)
8 Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy,
for in plain sight they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.(FH)
9 Break forth; shout together for joy,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.(FI)
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.(FJ)
11 Depart, depart, go out from there!
Touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of it; purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.(FK)
12 For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for the Lord will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.(FL)
The Suffering Servant
13 See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up
and shall be very high.(FM)
14 Just as there were many who were astonished at him[ah]
—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals—(FN)
15 so he shall startle[ai] many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.(FO)
53 Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?(FP)
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.(FQ)
3 He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering[aj] and acquainted with infirmity,
and as one from whom others hide their faces[ak]
he was despised, and we held him of no account.(FR)
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases,
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.(FS)
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.(FT)
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.(FU)
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.(FV)
8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.(FW)
9 They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb[al] with the rich,[am]
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.(FX)
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with affliction.
When you make his life an offering for sin,[an]
he shall see his offspring and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.(FY)
11 Out of his anguish he shall see;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one,[ao] my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.(FZ)
12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out himself to death
and was numbered with the transgressors,
yet he bore the sin of many
and made intercession for the transgressors.(GA)
The Eternal Covenant of Peace
54 Shout for joy, O barren one who has borne no children;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate woman will be more
than the children of the one who is married, says the Lord.(GB)
2 Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.(GC)
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
and your descendants will possess nations
and will settle desolate towns.(GD)
4 Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace,
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.(GE)
5 For your Maker is your husband;
the Lord of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
the God of the whole earth he is called.(GF)
6 For the Lord has called you
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,
says your God.(GG)
7 For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.(GH)
8 In overflowing wrath for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
says the Lord, your Redeemer.(GI)
9 This is like the days of Noah to me:
Just as I swore that the waters of Noah
would never again go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
and will not rebuke you.(GJ)
10 For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.(GK)
11 O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,
I am about to set your stones in antimony
and lay your foundations with sapphires.[ap](GL)
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
your gates of jewels,
and all your wall of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
and great shall be the prosperity of your children.(GM)
14 In righteousness you shall be established;
you shall be far from oppression; indeed, you shall not fear;
and from terror; indeed, it shall not come near you.(GN)
15 If anyone stirs up strife,
it is not from me;
whoever stirs up strife with you
shall fall because of you.(GO)
16 See, it is I who have created the smith
who blows the fire of coals
and produces a weapon fit for its purpose;
I have also created the ravager to destroy.
17 No weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper,
and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
and their vindication from me, says the Lord.(GP)
An Invitation to Abundant Life
55 Hear, everyone who thirsts;
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.(GQ)
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread
and your earnings for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.(GR)
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.(GS)
4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.(GT)
5 Now you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.(GU)
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;(GV)
7 let the wicked forsake their way
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.(GW)
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.(GX)
10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,(GY)
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.(GZ)
12 For you shall go out in joy
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.(HA)
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle,
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.(HB)
The Covenant Extended to All Who Obey
56 Thus says the Lord:
Maintain justice, and do what is right,
for soon my salvation will come
and my deliverance be revealed.(HC)
2 Happy is the mortal who does this,
the one who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
and refrains from doing any evil.(HD)
3 Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people,”
and do not let the eunuch say,
“I am just a dry tree.”(HE)
4 For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,(HF)
5 I will give, in my house and within my walls,
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.(HG)
6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it
and hold fast my covenant—(HH)
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar,
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.(HI)
8 Thus says the Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel:
I will gather others to them
besides those already gathered.[aq](HJ)
The Corruption of Israel’s Rulers
9 All you wild animals,
all you wild animals in the forest, come to devour!(HK)
10 Israel’s[ar] sentinels are blind;
they are all without knowledge;
they are all silent dogs
that cannot bark,
dreaming, lying down,
loving to slumber.(HL)
11 The dogs have a mighty appetite;
they never have enough.
The shepherds also have no understanding;
they have all turned to their own way,
to their own gain, one and all.
12 “Come,” they say, “let us[as] get wine;
let us fill ourselves with strong drink.
And tomorrow will be like today,
great beyond measure.”
Israel’s Futile Idolatry
57 The righteous perish,
and no one considers why;
the devout are taken away,
while no one understands
that it is due to evil that the righteous are taken away.(HM)
2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace
and rest on their couches.(HN)
3 But as for you, come here,
you children of a sorceress,
you offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.[at](HO)
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit—(HP)
5 you who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree;
you who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?(HQ)
6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
it is they who are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering;
you have brought a grain offering.
Should these acts cause me to relent?(HR)
7 Upon a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.(HS)
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your symbol,
for in deserting me[au] you have uncovered your bed;
you have gone up to it;
you have made it wide;
and you have made a bargain for yourself with them;
you have loved their bed;
you have gazed on their nakedness.[av](HT)
9 You journeyed to Molech[aw] with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far away
and sent them down to Sheol.(HU)
10 You grew weary from your many wanderings,
but you did not say, “It is no use!”
You found your desire rekindled,
and so you did not weaken.(HV)
11 Whom did you dread and fear
so that you lied
and did not remember me
or give me a thought?
Have I not kept silent and closed my eyes,[ax]
and so you do not fear me?(HW)
12 I will announce your verdict,
and the objects you made will not help you.
13 When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them off;
a breath will take them away.
But whoever takes refuge in me shall possess the land
and inherit my holy mountain.(HX)
A Promise of Help and Healing
14 It shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way;
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”(HY)
15 For thus says the high and lofty one
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place
and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble
and to revive the heart of the contrite.(HZ)
16 For I will not continually accuse,
nor will I always be angry,
for then the spirits would grow faint before me,
even the souls that I have made.(IA)
17 Because of their wicked covetousness I was angry;
I struck them; I hid and was angry,
but they kept turning back to their own ways.(IB)
18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;
I will lead them and repay them with comfort,
19 creating for their mourners the fruit of the lips.[ay]
Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord,
and I will heal them.(IC)
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea
that cannot keep still;
its waters toss up mire and mud.(ID)
21 There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.(IE)
False and True Worship
58 Shout out; do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.(IF)
2 Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they want God on their side.[az](IG)
3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
and oppress all your workers.(IH)
4 You fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.(II)
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?(IJ)
6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?(IK)
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?(IL)
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator[ba] shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.(IM)
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,(IN)
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.(IO)
11 The Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your needs in parched places
and make your bones strong,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never fail.(IP)
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.(IQ)
13 If you refrain from trampling the Sabbath,
from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
serving your own interests or pursuing your own affairs;(IR)
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(IS)
Injustice and Oppression to Be Punished
59 See, the Lord’s arm is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.(IT)
2 Rather, your iniquities have been barriers
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.(IU)
3 For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.(IV)
4 No one brings suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas; they speak lies,
conceiving mischief and bearing iniquity.(IW)
5 They hatch adders’ eggs
and weave the spider’s web;
whoever eats their eggs dies,
and the crushed egg hatches out a viper.(IX)
6 Their webs cannot serve as clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.(IY)
7 Their feet run to evil,
and they rush to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
desolation and destruction are in their highways.(IZ)
8 The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their ways.
Their roads they have made crooked;
no one who walks in them knows peace.(JA)
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and deliverance does not reach us;
we wait for light, but there is only darkness;
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.(JB)
10 We grope like the blind along a wall,
groping like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
among the vigorous[bb] as though we were dead.(JC)
11 We all growl like bears;
like doves we moan mournfully.
We wait for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.(JD)
12 For our transgressions before you are many,
and our sins testify against us.
Our transgressions indeed are with us,
and we know our iniquities:(JE)
13 transgressing and denying the Lord
and turning away from following our God,
talking oppression and revolt,
conceiving lying words and uttering them from the heart.(JF)
14 Justice is turned back,
and deliverance stands at a distance,
for truth stumbles in the public square,
and uprightness cannot enter.(JG)
15 Truth is lacking,
and whoever turns from evil is despoiled.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.(JH)
16 He saw that there was no one
and was appalled that there was no one to intervene,
so his own arm brought him victory,
and his righteousness upheld him.(JI)
17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing
and wrapped himself in fury as in a mantle.(JJ)
18 According to their deeds, so will he repay
wrath to his adversaries, requital to his enemies;
to the coastlands he will render requital.(JK)
19 So those in the west shall fear the name of the Lord,
and those in the east, his glory,
for he will come like a pent-up stream
that the wind of the Lord drives on.(JL)
20 And he will come to Zion as Redeemer,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the Lord.(JM)
21 And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you and my words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth or out of the mouths of your children or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and forever.(JN)
The Ingathering of the Dispersed
60 Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.(JO)
2 For darkness shall cover the earth
and thick darkness the peoples,
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.(JP)
3 Nations shall come to your light
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.(JQ)
4 Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together; they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried in their nurses’ arms.(JR)
5 Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,[bc]
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you;
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.(JS)
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.(JT)
7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;
the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
they shall be acceptable on my altar,[bd]
and I will glorify my glorious house.(JU)
8 Who are these that fly like a cloud
and like doves to their windows?
9 For the coastlands shall wait for me,
the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring your children from far away,
their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God
and for the Holy One of Israel,
because he has glorified you.(JV)
10 Foreigners shall build up your walls,
and their kings shall minister to you,
for in my wrath I struck you down,
but in my favor I have had mercy on you.(JW)
11 Your gates shall always be open;
day and night they shall not be shut,
so that nations shall bring you their wealth,
with their kings led in procession.(JX)
12 For the nation and kingdom
that will not serve you shall perish;
those nations shall be utterly laid waste.(JY)
13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
the cypress, the plane, and the pine,
to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
and I will glorify where my feet rest.(JZ)
14 The descendants of those who oppressed you
shall come bending low to you,
and all who despised you
shall bow down at your feet;
they shall call you the City of the Lord,
the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.(KA)
15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
with no one passing through,
I will make you majestic forever,
a joy from age to age.(KB)
16 You shall suck the milk of nations;
you shall suck the breasts of kings,
and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.(KC)
17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold;
instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze;
instead of stones, iron.
I will appoint Peace as your overseer
and Righteousness as your taskmaster.
18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
devastation or destruction within your borders;
you shall call your walls Salvation
and your gates Praise.(KD)
God the Glory of Zion
19 The sun shall no longer be
your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
give light to you by night,[be]
but the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.(KE)
20 Your sun shall no more go down
or your moon withdraw itself,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of mourning shall be ended.(KF)
21 Your people shall all be righteous;
they shall possess the land forever.
They are the shoot that I planted, the work of my hands,
so that I might be glorified.(KG)
22 The least of them shall become a clan
and the smallest one a mighty nation;
I am the Lord;
in its time I will accomplish it quickly.(KH)
The Good News of Deliverance
61 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,(KI)
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,(KJ)
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.(KK)
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.(KL)
5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks;
foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines,(KM)
6 but you shall be called priests of the Lord;
you shall be named ministers of our God;
you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations,
and in their riches you shall glory.(KN)
7 Because their[bf] shame was double
and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot,
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
everlasting joy shall be theirs.(KO)
8 For I, the Lord, love justice,
I hate robbery and wrongdoing;[bg]
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.(KP)
9 Their descendants shall be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge
that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.(KQ)
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my whole being shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.(KR)
11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.(KS)
The Vindication and Salvation of Zion
62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn
and her salvation like a burning torch.(KT)
2 The nations shall see your vindication
and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.(KU)
3 You shall be a beautiful crown in the hand of the Lord
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.(KV)
4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her
and your land Married,
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.(KW)
5 For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder[bh] marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.(KX)
6 Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have posted sentinels;
all day and all night
they shall never be silent.
You who remind the Lord,
take no rest,(KY)
7 and give him no rest
until he establishes Jerusalem
and makes it renowned throughout the earth.(KZ)
8 The Lord has sworn by his right hand
and by his mighty arm:
I will not again give your grain
to be food for your enemies,
and foreigners shall not drink the wine
for which you have labored,(LA)
9 but those who harvest it shall eat it
and praise the Lord,
and those who gather it shall drink it
in my holy courts.(LB)
10 Go through, go through the gates;
prepare the way for the people;
build up, build up the highway;
clear it of stones;
lift up an ensign over the peoples.(LC)
11 The Lord has proclaimed
to the end of the earth:
Say to daughter Zion,
“Look, your savior comes;
his reward is with him
and his recompense before him.”(LD)
12 They shall be called, “The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord,”
and you shall be called, “Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.”(LE)
Vengeance on Edom
63 “Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah in garments stained crimson?
Who is this so splendidly robed,
marching in his great might?”
“It is I, announcing vindication,
mighty to save.”(LF)
2 “Why are your robes red
and your garments like theirs who tread the winepress?”(LG)
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their juice spattered on my garments,
and I stained all my robes.(LH)
4 For the day of vengeance was in my mind,
and the year for my redeeming work had come.(LI)
5 I looked, but there was no helper;
I was abandoned, and there was no one to sustain me,
so my own arm brought me victory,
and my wrath sustained me.(LJ)
6 I trampled down peoples in my anger;
I crushed them[bi] in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”(LK)
God’s Mercy Remembered
7 I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us
and the great favor to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.(LL)
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not act deceitfully,”
and he became their savior
9 in all their distress.
It was no messenger or angel
but his presence that saved them;
in his love and pity it was he who redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.(LM)
10 But they rebelled
and grieved his holy spirit;
therefore he became their enemy;
he himself fought against them.(LN)
11 Then they[bj] remembered the days of old,
of Moses his servant.[bk]
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who put within them
his holy spirit,(LO)
12 who caused his glorious arm
to march at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
to make for himself an everlasting name,(LP)
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
they did not stumble.(LQ)
14 Like cattle that go down into the valley,
the spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
Thus you led your people,
to make for yourself a glorious name.(LR)
A Prayer of Penitence
15 Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and glorious habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
Your great pity and your compassion are withheld from me.(LS)
16 For you are our father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our father;
our Redeemer from of old is your name.(LT)
17 Why, O Lord, do you let us stray from your ways
and let our heart harden, so that we do not fear you?
Turn back for the sake of your servants,
the tribes that are your heritage.(LU)
18 Your holy people took possession for a little while,
but now our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.(LV)
19 We have long been like those whom you do not rule,
like those not called by your name.(LW)
64 O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence—(LX)
2 [bl]as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence!(LY)
3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
you came down; the mountains quaked at your presence.(LZ)
4 From ages past no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who works for those who wait for him.(MA)
5 You meet those who gladly do right,
those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
because you hid yourself we transgressed.[bm](MB)
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.(MC)
7 There is no one who calls on your name
or attempts to take hold of you,
for you have hidden your face from us
and have delivered[bn] us into the hand of our iniquity.(MD)
8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.(ME)
9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,
and do not remember iniquity forever.
Now consider, we are all your people.(MF)
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.(MG)
11 Our holy and beautiful house,
where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.(MH)
12 After all this, will you restrain yourself, O Lord?
Will you keep silent and punish us so severely?(MI)
The Righteousness of God’s Judgment
65 I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
to a nation that did not call on my name.(MJ)
2 I held out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;(MK)
3 a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
and offering incense on bricks;(ML)
4 who sit inside tombs
and spend the night in secret places;
who eat the flesh of pigs,
with broth of abominable things in their vessels;(MM)
5 who say, “Keep to yourself;
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.(MN)
6 See, it is written before me:
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their laps(MO)
7 their[bo] iniquities and their[bp] ancestors’ iniquities together,
says the Lord;
because they offered incense on the mountains
and reviled me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
full payment for their actions.(MP)
8 Thus says the Lord:
As the wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, “Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,”
so I will do for my servants’ sake
and not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob
and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;
my chosen shall inherit it,
and my servants shall settle there.(MQ)
10 Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks
and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people who have sought me.(MR)
11 But you who forsake the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune
and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,(MS)
12 I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter;
because, when I called, you did not answer,
when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in my sight
and chose what I did not delight in.(MT)
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
My servants shall eat,
but you shall be hungry;
my servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
my servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;(MU)
14 my servants shall sing with gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out in pain of heart
and shall wail in anguish of spirit.(MV)
15 You shall leave your name to my chosen to use as a curse,
and the Lord God will put you to death,
but to his servants he will give a different name.(MW)
16 Then whoever invokes a blessing in the land
shall bless by the God of faithfulness,
and whoever takes an oath in the land
shall swear by the God of faithfulness,
because the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my sight.(MX)
The Glorious New Creation
17 For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.(MY)
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating,
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy
and its people as a delight.(MZ)
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it
or the cry of distress.(NA)
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime,
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.(NB)
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(NC)
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat,
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.(ND)
23 They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,[bq]
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.(NE)
24 Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.(NF)
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.(NG)
The Worship God Demands
66 Thus says the Lord:
Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
so what kind of house could you build for me,
what sort of place for me to rest?(NH)
2 All these things my hand has made,
so all these things are mine,[br]
says the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look,
to the humble and contrite in spirit
who trembles at my word.(NI)
3 Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who kills a human,
whoever sacrifices a lamb like one who breaks a dog’s neck,
whoever presents a grain offering like one who offers pig’s blood,
whoever makes a memorial offering of frankincense like one who blesses an idol.
Just as these have chosen their own ways
and in their abominations they take delight,(NJ)
4 so I will choose their punishments
and bring upon them what they fear,
because, when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, they did not listen,
but they did what was evil in my sight
and chose what did not please me.(NK)
The Lord Vindicates Zion
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word:
Your own people who hate you
and reject you for my name’s sake
have said, “Let the Lord be glorified,
so that we may see your joy,”
but it is they who shall be put to shame.(NL)
6 Listen, a roar from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord,
dealing retribution to his enemies!(NM)
7 Before she was in labor
she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
she delivered a son.(NN)
8 Who has heard of such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be delivered in one moment?
Yet as soon as Zion was in labor
she delivered her children.(NO)
9 Shall I open the womb and not deliver?
says the Lord;
shall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb?
says your God.
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her—(NP)
11 that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast,
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious bosom.(NQ)
12 For thus says the Lord:
I will extend prosperity to her like a river
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream,
and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm
and bounced on her knees.(NR)
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.(NS)
The Reign and Indignation of God
14 You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bodies[bs] shall flourish like the grass,
and it shall be known that the power of the Lord is with his servants,
and his indignation is against his enemies.(NT)
15 For the Lord will come in fire
and his chariots in a whirlwind,[bt]
to vent his anger in fury
and his rebuke in flames of fire.(NU)
16 For by fire will the Lord execute judgment,
and by his sword on all flesh;
and those slain by the Lord shall be many.(NV)
17 Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the center, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rodents, shall come to an end together, says the Lord,(NW) 18 for I know[bu] their works and their thoughts.
I am[bv] coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and shall see my glory,(NX) 19 and I will set a sign among them. From them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put,[bw] and Lud, to Meshech,[bx] Tubal, and Javan, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory, and they shall declare my glory among the nations.(NY) 20 They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.(NZ) 21 And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites, says the Lord.(OA)
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth,
which I will make,
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
so shall your descendants and your name remain.(OB)
23 From new moon to new moon
and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
says the Lord.(OC)
24 And they shall go out and look at the dead bodies of the people who have rebelled against me, for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.(OD)
Notas al pie
- 44.4 Q ms: MT in the midst of grass
- 44.7 Cn: Heb from my placing an eternal people and things to come
- 44.7 Tg: Heb them
- 44.16 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb he eats, he roasts a roast
- 44.16 Q ms: MT I see
- 44.21 Q ms Compare Gk Syr Tg: MT you will not be forgotten by me
- 45.2 Q ms Gk: MT the swellings
- 45.8 Q ms: MT that they may bring forth salvation
- 45.9 Cn: Heb with the potsherds or with the potters
- 45.11 Cn: Heb Ask me of things to come
- 45.13 Heb him
- 45.21 Syr Vg: Heb let them take counsel
- 46.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 47.3 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 47.13 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 47.13 Gk Syr Compare Vg: Heb from what
- 48.1 Cn: Heb waters
- 48.10 Cn: Heb with
- 48.11 Gk OL: Heb for why should it
- 49.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 49.9 Or the trails
- 49.12 Q ms: MT Sinim
- 49.17 Or Your children come swiftly; your destroyers
- 49.24 Q ms Syr Vg: MT of a righteous person
- 50.2 Or die on the thirsty ground
- 50.4 Cn: Heb of those who are taught
- 50.11 Syr: Heb you gird yourselves with firebrands
- 51.6 Or in like manner
- 51.16 Syr: Heb planting
- 51.19 Q ms Gk Syr Vg: MT how may I comfort you?
- 51.21 Or humbled
- 52.2 Cn: Heb rise up, sit
- 52.6 Q ms Syr Vg Tg: MT therefore on
- 52.14 Syr Tg: Heb you
- 52.15 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 53.3 Or a man of sorrows
- 53.3 Or as one who hides his face from us
- 53.9 Q ms: MT and in his death
- 53.9 Cn: Heb with a rich person
- 53.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 53.11 Or and he shall find satisfaction. Through his knowledge, the righteous one
- 54.11 Or lapis lazuli
- 56.8 Heb besides his gathered ones
- 56.10 Heb His
- 56.12 Q ms Syr Vg Tg: MT me
- 57.3 Heb an adulterer and she prostitutes herself
- 57.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 57.8 Or phallus; Heb hand
- 57.9 Or the king
- 57.11 Gk Vg: Heb silent even for a long time
- 57.19 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 58.2 Or they delight to draw near to God
- 58.8 Or vindication
- 59.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 60.5 Heb be enlarged
- 60.7 Q ms Heb mss Gk Syr Tg: MT will ascend on the favor of my altar
- 60.19 Q ms Gk OL Tg: MT lacks by night
- 61.7 Heb your
- 61.8 Or robbery with a burnt offering
- 62.5 Cn: Heb your sons
- 63.6 Heb mss: MT I made them drunk
- 63.11 Heb he
- 63.11 Cn: Heb his people
- 64.2 64.1 in Heb
- 64.5 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 64.7 Gk Syr OL Tg: Heb melted
- 65.7 Gk Syr: Heb your
- 65.7 Gk Syr: Heb your
- 65.23 Or sudden terror
- 66.2 Gk Syr: Heb these things came to be
- 66.14 Heb bones
- 66.15 Q ms: MT like a whirlwind
- 66.18 Gk Syr: Heb lacks know
- 66.18 Gk Syr Vg Tg: Heb it is
- 66.19 Gk: Heb Pul
- 66.19 Gk: Heb those drawing the bow
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.