Chronological

44 ¶ Yet now hear, O Jacob my slave and Israel, whom I have chosen:

² Thus saith the LORD that made thee and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my slave, and thou, Jesurun, {Heb. the upright one} whom I have chosen.

³ For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine offspring:

⁴ And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

⁵ One shall say, I am the LORD’s; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD and surname himself by the name of Israel.

⁶ Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel and his redeemer, the LORD of the hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

⁷ And who shall call as I do and declare this in advance and set it in order for me, since I made the people of the world? Let them declare unto them the things that are near and the things that shall come.

⁸ Do not fear, neither be afraid; have I not caused thee to hear from of old and declared unto thee beforehand that which was to come? Then ye are my witnesses that there is no God but me, and there is no Strong One that I do not know.

⁹ ¶ Those that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and that which is most precious to them is useful for nothing; and they are their own witnesses that they do not see, nor understand; therefore, they shall be ashamed.

¹⁰ Who has formed God? And who cast a graven image that is profitable for nothing?

¹¹ Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; for the workmen, they are of men; even if all of them are gathered together and stand, they shall fear and shall be ashamed together.

¹² The smith shall take the tongs; he shall work among the coals; he shall give it form with the hammers and bring forth in it the arm of his strength; though he is hungry and his strength fails: he shall not drink water, even if he faints.

¹³ The carpenter stretches out his rule; he measures it with a line; he fits it with planes; he marks it out with the compass; he makes it after the form of a noble man, in the likeness of the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

¹⁴ He shall hew down cedars and take the cypress and the oak, and he shall strengthen himself with the trees of the forest; he shall plant a fir tree, which shall be nourished with the rain.

¹⁵ The man shall then use of it for firewood; for he will take thereof and warm himself; he will kindle it and bake bread; he will also make a god and worship it; he will fabricate an idol and shall kneel down before it.

¹⁶ He shall burn part of it in the fire; with another part thereof he shall eat flesh; he shall roast meat and shall satisfy himself. Afterwards he shall warm himself and say, Aha, I have warmed myself, I have seen fire;

¹⁷ the residue of it he turns into god, into his graven image; he humbles himself before it and worships it and prays unto it and says, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

¹⁸ They did not know nor understand; for he has anointed their eyes that they not see and their hearts that they not understand.

¹⁹ He does not return to his right mind; he does not have knowledge nor intelligence to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; I have also baked bread upon the coals of it; I have roasted flesh and eaten it and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? Do I have to humble myself before the trunk of a tree?

²⁰ The ashes feed him; his deceived heart inclines him, that he not deliver his soul and say, Is not the lie at my right hand?

²¹ ¶ Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel: that thou art my slave: I have formed thee; thou art my slave, O Israel, do not forget me.

²² I have undone, as a cloud, thy rebellions, and thy sins, as a mist, return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

²³ Sing praises, O ye heavens; for the LORD has done it; shout with joy, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into praise, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and in Israel he shall be glorified.

²⁴ Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things, that stretches forth the heavens alone, that spreads abroad the earth by myself;

²⁵ that undoes the signs of the fortune tellers and makes the diviners mad; that turns the wise men backward and makes their wisdom fade away;

²⁶ that awakes the word of his slave and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, that says unto Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be rebuilt, and I will raise up thy ruins

²⁷ that says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers

²⁸ that calls Cyrus, my shepherd, and all that I desire, he shall fulfil, by saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

45 ¶ Thus saith the LORD to his Messiah, to Cyrus, whom I have taken by his right hand to subdue Gentiles before him and to loose the loins of kings. To open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut:

² I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

³ And I will give thee the hidden treasures and the well-guarded secrets that thou may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who gives thee thy name.

⁴ For Jacob my slave’s sake and Israel my elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

⁵ ¶ I am the LORD, and there is no one else; there is no God beside me; I shall gird thee, though thou hast not known me

⁶ that it may be known from the rising of the sun and from where it goes down that there is no one beside me. I am the LORD, and there is no one else.

⁷ I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil: I am the LORD that does all this.

⁸ Release, ye heavens, from above, and the clouds shall pour down righteousness; let the earth open up, and let salvation and righteousness bear their fruit; let them produce fruit together; I the LORD have created it.

⁹ Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashions it, What doth thou make; thy work has no form?

¹⁰ Woe unto him that says unto his father, Why dost thou beget? or to the woman, Why hast thou brought forth?

¹¹ ¶ Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come; inquire of me concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands.

¹² I have made the earth, and created man upon it, I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens and I have commanded all their host.

¹³ I have awakened him in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways; he shall build my city, and he shall loose my captives, not for price nor for bribes, saith the LORD of the hosts.

¹⁴ Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee; they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is no one else; there is none other beside God.

¹⁵ Verily thou art God, that thou might hide thyself; God of Israel, who saves.

¹⁶ They shall be ashamed and also confounded, all of them; all the makers of idols shall go forth ashamed.

¹⁷ Israel is saved in the LORD, eternal salvation; ye shall never be ashamed nor confounded through all ages.

¹⁸ For thus has the LORD said that creates the heavens; God himself that forms the earth, he who made it and established it. He did not create it in vain; he created it to be inhabited; I am the LORD; and there is no one else.

¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret in a dark place of the earth. Not without substance did I say unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me; I am the LORD who speaks righteousness, who declares things that are right.

²⁰ ¶ Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, all ye that are escaped of the Gentiles. They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image and pray unto the god that does not save.

²¹ Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together; who caused this to be heard from the beginning and has declared it from that time, except me, the LORD? and there is no God beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is no one besides me.

²² Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no one else.

²³ I have sworn by myself; the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow; every tongue shall swear.

²⁴ And unto me he shall say, Surely in the LORD is the righteousness and the strength; until he shall come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

²⁵ In the LORD shall all the generation of Israel be justified and shall glory.

46 ¶ Bel bowed down; Nebo is fallen; their images were placed upon animals and upon beasts of burden that will carry you, laden with yourselves, burden of weariness.

² They stoop, they are fallen together; they could not escape from the burden, and their soul had to go into captivity.

³ Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:

⁴ And even to your old age I am he, and even to grey hairs I will carry you; I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will deliver you.

⁵ ¶ To whom will ye liken me and make me equal and compare me that we may be alike?

⁶ They lavish gold out of the bag and weigh silver in the balance and hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; they fall down and worship.

⁷ They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him and set him in his place. There he is; he does not move from his place; they cry unto him, and neither does he answer, nor save from the tribulation.

⁸ Remember this, and be ashamed, bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.

⁹ Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is no one like me,

¹⁰ declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

¹¹ Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country; I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it; I will also do it.

¹² Hearken unto me, ye hard of heart, that are far from righteousness;

¹³ I cause my righteousness to come near; it shall not go away; and my salvation shall not be stayed: and I will place salvation in Zion; and my glory in Israel.

47 ¶ Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground, without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no longer be called tender and delicate.

² Take the millstones and grind meal; uncover thy locks, remove the shoes from thy feet, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.

³ Thy nakedness shall be uncovered and thy shame shall be seen; I will take vengeance, and I will not help any man.

⁴ As for our redeemer, the LORD of the hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.

⁵ Sit, be silent, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no longer be called, The lady of kingdoms.

⁶ I was wroth with my people; I have profaned my inheritance and given them into thine hand; thou didst show them no mercy; upon the ancient thou hast very heavily laid thy yoke.

⁷ ¶ And thou didst say, I shall be a lady for ever. Until now thou hast not laid these things to heart, neither didst thou remember thy latter end.

⁸ Therefore now hear this, thou delicate one, that dost sit in confidence and say in thine heart, I am, and no one else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I be fatherless.

⁹ But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day; the loss of thy fathers and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

¹⁰ For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, No one sees me. Thy wisdom and thine own knowledge; it has deceived thee; for thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and no one else beside me.

¹¹ Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from where it rises; and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and destruction shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.

¹² Stand now with thine enchantments and with the multitude of thy sorceries in which thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to better thyself, if so be thou may prevail.

¹³ Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now those that contemplate the heavens, those that speculate regarding the stars, those that teach the courses of the moon, stand up and defend thee from these things that shall come upon thee.

¹⁴ Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver their lives from the hand of the flame; there shall not be a coal left to warm at, nor light to sit before it.

¹⁵ Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander each one to his own way; there shall be no one to save thee.

48 ¶ Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who call yourselves by the name of Israel, those that are come forth out of the waters of Judah, those who swear by the name of the LORD and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.

² For they call themselves of the holy city and stay themselves upon the God of Israel. The LORD of the hosts is his name.

³ That which happened, I have already declared many days ago; and it went forth out of my mouth, and I published it; I did it suddenly, and it came to pass.

⁴ Because I know that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow bronze;

⁵ I have already declared it many days ago; before it came to pass I showed it to thee: lest thou should say, My idol has done it, my graven image, and my molten image, has commanded these things.

⁶ Thou hast heard it, thou hast seen it all; and will ye not declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

⁷ They are created now, and not in days past; nor before this day hast thou heard them lest thou should say, Behold, I knew them.

⁸ Certainly thou hast never heard this; certainly thou hast never known this; certainly thine ear was never before opened: for I knew that being unfaithful thou would disobey; therefore, I called thee a rebel from the womb.

⁹ ¶ For my name’s sake I will defer my anger, and for my praise I will wait patiently for thee that I not cut thee off.

¹⁰ Behold, I have refined thee, and not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

¹¹ For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, I will do it, for how should my name be profaned? and I will not give my glory unto another.

¹² Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

¹³ Certainly my hand founded the earth, and my right hand measured the heavens with the palm; as I named them, they appeared together.

¹⁴ All ye, assemble yourselves and hear; who is there among them that declares these things? The LORD has loved him, the one who will execute his will on Babylon and his arm upon the Chaldeans.

¹⁵ I, even I, have spoken; I have called him: I have brought him, and therefore his way shall be prospered.

¹⁶ ¶ Come near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was done, I was there: and now the LORD God has sent me and his Spirit.

¹⁷ Thus has the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel said: I am the LORD thy God who teaches thee to profit, who causes thee to walk by the way in which thou dost walk.

¹⁸ O that thou would look unto my commandments! Then thy peace would be as a river and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

¹⁹ Thy seed would be as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me.

²⁰ Come out of Babylon, flee from among the Chaldeans. Give news of this with a voice of joy; publish this; take this news to the end of the earth; say, The LORD has redeemed his slave Jacob.

²¹ And they did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he caused water to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock, and the waters gushed out.

²² There is no peace for the wicked, said the LORD.