They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water he will guide them.

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the LORD; and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed."

The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward.

I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who tore out my beard; I did not cover my face from insults and spitting.

For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and those who dwell therein shall die in the same way: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

"Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; do not fear the reproach of men, neither be dismayed at their insults.

The captive exile shall speedily be freed; and he shall not die and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.

Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God.

Therefore hear now this, you afflicted, and drunk, but not with wine:

For you shall not depart in haste, nor shall you leave in flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand.

He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and familiar with illness; and as one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, and we did not value him.

He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he did not open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he did not open his mouth.

"Sing, barren, you who did not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than of her that has a husband," says the LORD.

"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations; do not spare: lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.

"Do not be afraid; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be confounded; for you shall not be disappointed: for you shall forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood you shall remember no more.

"For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.

For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD who has mercy on you.

"You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.

In righteousness you shall be established: you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not be afraid; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because of you.

Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn't satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know; and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you."

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," says the LORD.

so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

to them I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you did not say, 'It is in vain.' You found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren't faint.

"Of whom have you been afraid and in fear, that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven't I held my peace even of long time, and you do not fear me?

I will declare your righteousness; and as for your works, they shall not profit you.

For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls who I have made.

"Cry aloud, do not spare, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways: as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.

'Why have we fasted,' say they, 'and you do not see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge?' "Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labors.

Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you do not fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.

Isn't it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?

and the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make strong your bones; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

"If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of the LORD honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words:

Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it can't save; neither his ear heavy, that it can't hear:

but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.

The way of peace they do not know; and there is no justice in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whoever goes therein does not know peace.

"As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed's seed," says the LORD, "from henceforth and forever."

Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive.

For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.

I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they shall never be silent, day or night. You who call on the LORD, take no rest,

The LORD has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, "Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies; and foreigners shall not drink your new wine, for which you have labored:

They shall call them The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and you shall be called Sought out, A city not forsaken.

For he said, "Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely:" so he was their Savior.

who led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble?

For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn't know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us: you, LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.

We have become as they over whom you never bear rule, as those who were not called by your name.

When you did awesome things which we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, and neither has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him.

Do not be furious, LORD, neither remember iniquity forever: see, look, we beg you, we are all your people.

"I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. I was near to those who did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am. Here I am.' to a nation that did not call on my name.

I have spread out my hands all the day to a disobedient and obstinate people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;

who say, Stand by yourself, do not come near to me, for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day.

"Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yes, I will recompense into their bosom,

Thus says the LORD, "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, 'Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it:' so will I do for my servants' sake, that I may not destroy them all.

I will destine you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I did not delight."

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

"There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.

They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain," says the LORD.

I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears on them; because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I did not delight."

Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth?" says the LORD: "shall I who cause to bring forth shut the womb?" says your God.

"I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the islands afar off, who have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.

"They shall go forth, and look on the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they will be loathsome to all mankind."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD. Behold, I do not know how to speak; for I am a child."

But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am a child;' for to whoever I shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak.

Do not be afraid because of them; for I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD.

"You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them.

They will fight against you; but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you," says the LORD, "to deliver you."

"Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "I remember you, the devotion of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

The priests did not say, 'Where is the LORD?' And those who handle the law did not know me. The rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

"Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backsliding shall reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and that my fear is not in you," says the Lord, GOD of Hosts.

"For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you said, 'I will not serve;' for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute.

"How can you say, 'I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals'? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that snuffs up the wind in her desire. When she is in heat, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her.

who tell wood, 'You are my father;' and a stone, 'You have brought me out:' for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, 'Arise, and save us.'

Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You did not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.

"Yet you said, 'I am innocent. Surely his anger has turned away from me.' "Behold, I will judge you, because you say, 'I have not sinned.'

From there also you shall go forth, with your hands on your head; for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them.

"Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see. Where have you not been lain with? You have sat for them by the ways, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.

Will you not from this time cry to me, 'My Father, you are the guide of my youth?'

I said after she had done all these things, 'She will return to me;' but she did not return; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, did not fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.

Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense," says the LORD.

Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, 'Return, you backsliding Israel,' says the LORD; 'I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful,' says the LORD. 'I will not keep anger forever.

Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,'" says the LORD.

"But I said, 'How I would put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations.' and I said, 'You shall call me "My Father," and shall not turn away from following me.'

Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."

"If you will return, Israel," says the LORD, "if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you shall not be removed;

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, "Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.