The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, Yahweh, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

But you are nothing, and your work is of no value: foolish is he who takes you for his gods.

“I have stirred up and put into action one from the north [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great], and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My Name [in prayer].
And he will trample on [the Babylonian] officials as on mortar,
Even as a potter treads clay.”

Who declared this from the beginning, and we will know him; or from the old times, and we will confess and say that he is righteous? But there is none that showeth or declareth anything; there is none also that heareth your words.

But I look and there is no man, and [I look] among these and there is no counselor, that I might ask them and they might answer a word.

Lo, wicked are they and vain, with the things also that they take in hand: yea, their images are but wind and emptiness.

A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench, but he will bring forth justice in truth.

“I have kept silent from ages past;
I have been quiet and restrained Myself.
But now, I will groan like a woman in labor,
gasping breathlessly.

Who [is] blind but my servant or deaf like my messenger [whom] I sent? Who [is] blind like the one who is repaid or blind like the servant of Yahweh?

You see many [things], but you do not observe. [His] ears are open, but he does not hear.

But this [is] a people plundered and looted; all of them are trapped in holes, and they are kept hidden in houses of imprisonment. They have become like plunder, and there is no one who saves; [like] booty, and there is no one who says, "Restore!"

But who is he among you, that pondereth this in his mind, that considereth it, and taketh it for a warning in time to come?

So he poured [the] wrath [of] his anger upon him and [the] strength of war. And it set him afire all around, but he did not understand; and it burned him, but he did not take [it] to heart.

But now thus says Yahweh, he who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: "You must not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called [you] by your name; {you are mine}.

I will say to the North, 'Let go.' And to the South, 'Keep not back: but bring me my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the world:

Send out the blind people who have eyes, and those who have ears, but they are shut.

All nations shall come in one, and be gathered in one people. But which among yonder gods shall declare such things, and tell us what is to come? Let them bring their witnesses, so shall they be free: for then men shall hear it, and say, "It is truth."

But I bring you witnesses, sayeth the LORD: even those that are my servants, whom I have chosen - to the intent that ye might be certified and give me faithful credence. Yea, and to consider, that I am he before whom there was never any God, and there shall be none after me.

I, even I, am the Lord; and there is no saviour but me.

Behold, I shall make a new thing, and shortly shall it appear. Ye shall well know it; I told it you afore, but I will tell it you again. I will make streets in the desert, and rivers of water in the wilderness.

But you did not call me, Jacob; for you have become weary of me, Israel.

You have not bought me spice reed with money or satisfied me [with] the fat of sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have made me weary with your iniquities.

"But now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen.

The Lord, the King of Israel, even the Lord of armies who has taken up his cause, says, I am the first and the last, and there is no God but me.

Have no fear, be strong in heart; have I not made it clear to you in the past, and let you see it? and you are my witnesses. Is there any God but me, or a Rock of whom I have no knowledge?

All carvers of Images are but vain, and the carved images that they love can do no good. They must bear record themselves, that seeing they can neither see nor understand they shall be confounded.

Whoever makes a god, makes nothing but a metal image in which there is no profit.

Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; and the workmen are but men. Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up: they shall fear, they shall be ashamed together.

The iron-smith hath a chisel, and he worketh in the coals, and he fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with his strong arm; but he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he hath not drunk water, and he is faint.

But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”

But I set up the purpose of my servants, and fulfill the counsel of my messengers. I say unto Jerusalem, "Turn again," and to the cities of Judah, "Be ye builded again," and I repair their decayed places.

I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God but me: I will make you ready for war, though you had no knowledge of me:

So that they may see from the east and from the west that there is no God but me: I am the Lord, and there is no other.

It is me -- I stir him up and commission him; I will make all his ways level. He will rebuild my city; he will send my exiled people home, but not for a price or a bribe," says the Lord who commands armies.

But Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be put to shame nor confounded world without end.

For this is the word of the Lord who made the heavens; he is God; the maker and designer of the earth; who made it not to be a waste, but as a living-place for man: I am the Lord, and there is no other.

“I have not spoken in secret,
In a corner of a land of darkness;
I did not say to the descendants of Jacob,
‘Seek Me in vain [with no benefit for yourselves].’
I, the Lord, speak righteousness [the truth—trustworthy, a straightforward correlation between deeds and words],
Declaring things that are upright.

Give the word, put forward your cause, let us have a discussion together: who has given news of this in the past? who made it clear in early times? did not I, the Lord? and there is no God but me; a true God and a saviour; there is no other.

I swear by myself: out of my mouth cometh the word of righteousness, and that may no man turn: but all knees shall bow unto me, and all tongues shall swear by me,

saying, "Verily in the LORD is my righteousness and strength. To him shall men come: but all they that think scorn of him, shall be confounded."

They stoop; they bow down together. They are not able to save [the] burden, but {they themselves go} in captivity.

They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along;
they set it in its place, and there it stands;
it does not budge from its place.
They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer;
it saves no one from his trouble.

Hear me, O ye that are of a high stomach, but far from righteousness:

I have brought near my righteousness. It shall not be far away, And my deliverance, shall not linger, - But I will give In Zion, deliverance, To Israel, my glory.

But as for thee O daughter, thou virgin Babylon, thou shalt sit in the dust. Thou shalt sit upon the ground, and not in a throne, O thou maiden of Chaldea. Thou shalt no more be called tender and pleasant.

I was so wroth with my people, that I punished mine inheritance, and gave them into thy power. Nevertheless, thou showedest them no mercy, but even the very aged men of them, didst thou oppress right sore with thy yoke.

And now hear this, thou voluptuous one, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thy heart, It is I, and there is none but me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know loss of children:

but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments.

For thou hast confided in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath seduced thee; and thou hast said in thy heart, It is I, and there is none but me.

But evil shall come upon thee thou shalt not know from whence it riseth; and mischief shall fall upon thee, which thou shalt not be able to ward off; and desolation that thou suspectest not shall come upon thee suddenly.

"But stand up now with your spells and your many incantations, at which you have labored from your childhood until today,

But your mind is troubled by the number of your guides: let them now come forward for your salvation: the measurers of the heavens, the watchers of the stars, and those who are able to say from month to month what things are coming on you.

Hear this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and came out from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of Yahweh, and {invoke} the God of Israel, [but] not in truth and not in righteousness.

Hear and consider all these things, whether it was ye that prophesied them: But as for me, I told thee before at the beginning, new and secret things that thou knewest not of.

Look! I have refined you, but not like silver; I have chosen you in [the] furnace of misery.

"But there is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked."

But I myself said, "I have labored in vain; I have used up my strength for nothing and vanity! Nevertheless, my justice [is] with Yahweh, and my reward [is] with my God."

And He said, It is but a little thing that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You for a light to the nations, to be My salvation to the end of the earth.

Saying to those who are bound and captured, ‘Go forth,’
And to those who are in [spiritual] darkness, ‘Show yourselves [come into the light of the Savior].’
They will feed along the roads [on which they travel],
And their pastures will be on all the bare heights.

But Zion said, "Yahweh has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me!"

Can a woman forget her suckling, [refrain] from having compassion on the child of her womb? Indeed, these may forget, but I, I will not forget you!

Yes, your land lies in ruins; it is desolate and devastated. But now you will be too small to hold your residents, and those who devoured you will be far away.

Then you will say within yourself,
‘Who fathered these for me?
I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
exiled and wandering—
but who brought them up?
See, I was left by myself—
but these, where did they come from?’”

But thus says Yahweh: "Indeed a captive of [the] mighty shall be taken, and [the] war-booty [of] [the] tyrant shall be rescued, for I myself will dispute [with] your opponent, and I myself will save your children.

But I offer my back unto the smiters, and my cheeks to the nippers. I turn not my face from shame and spitting,

But the Lord Jehovah will help me: therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

Listen carefully, all you who kindle your own fire [devising your own man-made plan of salvation],
Who surround yourselves with torches,
Walk by the light of your [self-made] fire
And among the torches that you have set ablaze.
But this you will have from My hand:
You will lie down in [a place of] torment.

Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah; she brought you forth. For I called him {alone}, but I blessed him and made him numerous."

Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look to the earth beneath, for [the] heavens will be torn to pieces like smoke, and the earth will be worn out like garment, and those who inhabit her will die like gnats. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be broken to pieces.

For a moth will eat them like garments; a moth will devour them like wool, but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation for {generation after generation}."

And you have forgotten Yahweh, your maker, who stretched out [the] heavens, and founded [the] earth. And you tremble continually, all day, because of the wrath of the oppressor when he {takes aim} to destroy. But where [is] the wrath of the oppressor?

But I am the LORD your God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.

These double disasters confronted you. But who feels sorry for you? Destruction and devastation, famine and sword. But who consoles you?

Therefore hear now this afflicted [one] and drunken [one] but not from wine.

But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict you; who have said to your soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and you have laid your body like the ground, and as the street, for them that pass over.

For, thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, To Egypt, went down my people at first to sojourn there, - But, Assyria, without cause, hath oppressed him.

But now, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without reason? Those who rule over them howl [with taunting and mockery of salvation],” declares the Lord, “and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.

But that my people may know my name, I myself will speak in that day. Behold, here am I.

But ye shall not go out with sedition nor make haste as they that flee away: for the LORD shall go before you, and the God of Israel shall keep the watch.

Just as many were astonished and appalled at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form [marred] more than the sons of men.

But it was our pain he took, and our diseases were put on him: while to us he seemed as one diseased, on whom God's punishment had come.

But he [was] pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace [was] upon him, and by his wounds {we were healed}.

All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, but he opened not his mouth; he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was as a sheep dumb before her shearers, and he opened not his mouth.

He was led away after an unjust trial -- but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.

And men appointed his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth.

But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

“Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

I abandoned you {for a short} moment, but I will gather you with great compassion.

I hid my face from you [for] a moment, in the flowing of anger, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting faithfulness" says your redeemer, Yahweh.

For the mountains may depart, and the hills may sway, but my faithfulness shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not sway," says Yahweh, who has compassion on you,

In righteousness, shalt thou be established, - Be thou far from oppression - But indeed thou shalt not fear, And from crushing calamity - But indeed it shall not come nigh unto thee.

Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever gathereth together against thee shall fall because of thee.

“No weapon that is formed against you will succeed;
And every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn.
This [peace, righteousness, security, and triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And this is their vindication from Me,” says the Lord.

Wherefore do ye lay out your money, for the thing that feedeth not, and spend your labour about the thing that satisfieth you not? But hearken rather unto me, and ye shall eat of the best, and your soul shall have her pleasure in plenteousness.

But as far as the heavens are higher than the earth, so far do my ways exceed yours, and my thoughts yours.

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

so shall be my word that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me without success, but shall accomplish what I desire and be successful [in the thing for] which I sent it.

They are shameless dogs, that be never satisfied. The shepherds also in like manner have no understanding, but every man turneth his own way, everyone after his own covetousness, with all his power.

The godly perish, but no one cares. Honest people disappear, when no one minds that the godly disappear because of evil.