The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁴ Thus says the Lord, your redeemer,^[a]
    the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I send to Babylon;
    I will bring down all her defenses,
    and the Chaldeans shall cry out in lamentation.
¹⁵ I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    the creator of Israel, your King.
¹⁶ Thus says the Lord,
    who opens a way in the sea,
    a path in the mighty waters,^(A)
17 Who leads out chariots and horsemen,
    a powerful army,
Till they lie prostrate together, never to rise,
    snuffed out, quenched like a wick.^(B)
18 Remember not^[b] the events of the past,
    the things of long ago consider not;
¹⁹ See, I am doing something new!
    Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the wilderness I make a way,
    in the wasteland, rivers.
²⁰ Wild beasts honor me,
    jackals and ostriches,
For I put water in the wilderness
    and rivers in the wasteland
    for my chosen people to drink,
²¹ The people whom I formed for myself,
    that they might recount my praise.

²² Yet you did not call upon me, Jacob,^[c]
    for you grew weary of me, Israel.
²³ You did not bring me sheep for your burnt offerings,
    nor honor me with your sacrifices.
I did not exact from you the service of offerings,
    nor weary you for frankincense.^(C)
24 You did not buy me sweet cane,^[d]
    nor did you fill me with the fat of your sacrifices;
Instead, you burdened me with your sins,
    wearied me with your crimes.
²⁵ It is I, I, who wipe out,
    for my own sake, your offenses;
    your sins I remember no more.
²⁶ Would you have me remember, have us come to trial?
    Speak up, prove your innocence!
²⁷ Your first father^[e] sinned;
    your spokesmen rebelled against me
²⁸ Till I repudiated the holy princes,
    put Jacob under the ban,
    exposed Israel to scorn.

^9 [k]Those who fashion idols are all nothing;
    their precious works are of no avail.
They are their witnesses:^[l]
    they see nothing, know nothing,
    and so they are put to shame.^(H)
10 Who would fashion a god or cast an idol,
    that is of no use?
¹¹ Look, all its company will be shamed;
    they are artisans, mere human beings!
They all assemble and stand there,
    only to cower in shame.
¹² The ironsmith fashions a likeness,
    he works it over the coals,
Shaping it with hammers,
    working it with his strong arm.
With hunger his strength wanes,
    without water, he grows faint.^(I)
13 The woodworker stretches a line,
    and marks out a shape with a stylus.
He shapes it with scraping tools,
    with a compass measures it off,
Making it the copy of a man,^[m]
    human display, enthroned in a shrine.
¹⁴ He goes out to cut down cedars,
    takes a holm tree or an oak.
He picks out for himself trees of the forest,
    plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.
¹⁵ It is used for fuel:
    with some of the wood he warms himself,
    makes a fire and bakes bread.
Yet he makes a god and worships it,
    turns it into an idol and adores it!
¹⁶ Half of it he burns in the fire,
    on its embers he roasts meat;
    he eats the roast and is full.
He warms himself and says, “Ah!
    I am warm! I see the flames!”
¹⁷ The rest of it he makes into a god,
    an image to worship and adore.
He prays to it and says,
    “Help me! You are my god!”
¹⁸ They do not know, do not understand;
    their eyes are too clouded to see,
    their minds, to perceive.
¹⁹ He does not think clearly;
    he lacks the wit and knowledge to say,
“Half the wood I burned in the fire,
    on its embers I baked bread,
    I roasted meat and ate.
Shall I turn the rest into an abomination?
    Shall I worship a block of wood?”
²⁰ He is chasing ashes!^[n]
A deluded mind has led him astray;
    He cannot save himself,
    does not say, “This thing in my right hand—is it not a fraud?”

²¹ Remember these things, Jacob,
    Israel, for you are my servant!
I formed you, a servant to me;
    Israel, you shall never be forgotten by me:
²² I have brushed away your offenses like a cloud,
    your sins like a mist;
    return to me, for I have redeemed you.

²³ Raise a glad cry, you heavens—the Lord has acted!
    Shout, you depths of the earth.
Break forth, mountains, into song,
    forest, with all your trees.
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
    shows his glory through Israel.

⁴ For the sake of Jacob, my servant,
    of Israel my chosen one,
I have called you by name,
    giving you a title, though you do not know me.^(N)
5 I am the Lord, there is no other,
    there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you do not know me,
⁶     so that all may know, from the rising of the sun
    to its setting, that there is none besides me.^[r]
I am the Lord, there is no other.
⁷     I form the light, and create the darkness,
I make weal and create woe;^[s]
    I, the Lord, do all these things.
⁸ Let justice descend, you heavens, like dew from above,
    like gentle rain let the clouds drop it down.
Let the earth open and salvation bud forth;
    let righteousness spring up with them!^[t]
    I, the Lord, have created this.^(O)
9 Woe to anyone who contends with their Maker;^(P)
    a potsherd among potsherds of the earth!^[u]
Shall the clay say to the potter, “What are you doing?”
    or, “What you are making has no handles”?
¹⁰ Woe to anyone who asks a father, “What are you begetting?”
    or a woman, “What are you giving birth to?”