This is what the Lord says, "Promote justice! Do what is right! For I am ready to deliver you; I am ready to vindicate you openly.

For this is what the Lord says: "For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and are faithful to my covenant,

This is what the Lord GOD says, the one who gathers the outcasts of Israel: "I'll gather still others to them besides those already gathered.

I will make clear what your righteousness is like and your works; you will have no profit in them.

And therefore thus he sayeth, "Make ready, make ready, and clean the street, take up what ye can out of the way that leadeth to my people."

For this is what the high and exalted one says, the one who rules forever, whose name is holy: "I dwell in an exalted and holy place, but also with the discouraged and humiliated, in order to cheer up the humiliated and to encourage the discouraged.

They seek me day after day; they want to know my requirements, like a nation that does what is right and does not reject the law of their God. They ask me for just decrees; they want to be near God.

Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not; have afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find what pleaseth you, and exact all your labours.

Is this really the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

If you turn your foot because of the Sabbath, from doing what you please on My holy days, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of Jehovah, honorable; and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,

Their webs cannot be used for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are sinful; they commit violent crimes.

They have no knowledge of the way of peace, and there is no sense of what is right in their behaviour: they have made for themselves ways which are not straight; whoever goes in them has no knowledge of peace.

And he saw that there was no man, and he was appalled that there was no one who intercedes, so his arm came to assist him, and his righteousness {was what} sustained him.

He repays them for what they have done, dispensing angry judgment to his adversaries and punishing his enemies. He repays the coastlands.

But what are these that flee here like clouds, and as the doves flying to their windows?

Instead of your [former] shame you will have a double portion;
And instead of humiliation your people will shout for joy over their portion.
Therefore in their land they will possess double [what they had forfeited];
Everlasting joy will be theirs.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
So the Lord God will [most certainly] cause righteousness and justice and praise
To spring up before all the nations [through the power of His word].

What is he, this that cometh from Edom, with stained red clothes of Bozrah, which is so costly cloth, and cometh in so nimbly with all his strength? "I am he that teacheth righteousness, and am of power to help."

And I looked, but there was no helper, and I was appalled, but there was no one who sustains, so my arm came to assist me, and my wrath {was what} sustained me.

For since the beginning of the world there was none except thou, O God, that heard or perceived; neither hath any eye seen what thou doest, for them that put their trust in thee.

You come to the aid of those who gladly do what's right, To those who remember you in your ways. See, you were angry, and we sinned against them for a long time, but we will be saved.

I spread out my hands all day long to my rebellious people, who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable, and who did what they desired.

Look, I have decreed: I will not keep silent, but will pay them back; I will pay them back exactly what they deserve,

This is what the LORD says: "Just as new wine is found in the cluster, and people have said, "Don't destroy it, for there is a gift in it,' so I'll act for my servants' sake, by not destroying them all.

I will destine you for the sword, [says the Lord],
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter,
Because when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not listen or obey.
But you did [what was] evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”

Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "See, my servants will eat, but you'll go hungry; my servants will drink, but you'll go thirsty; my servants will rejoice, but you'll be put to shame.

“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.

No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, for my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but the serpent’s food will be dust!
They will not do what is evil or destroy
on My entire holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

This is what the Lord says,

“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where, then, is a house that you could build for Me?
And where will My resting place be?

My hand made them; that is how they came to be," says the Lord. I show special favor to the humble and contrite, who respect what I have to say.

So I will choose their punishments,
And will bring the things they dread upon them
Because I called, but no one answered;
I spoke, but they did not listen or obey.
But they did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”

Hear the word of the Lord, you who respect what he has to say! Your countrymen, who hate you and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name, say, "May the Lord be glorified, then we will witness your joy." But they will be put to shame.

A sound of uproar from the city!
A voice from the temple—
the voice of the Lord,
paying back His enemies what they deserve!

This is what the LORD says: "See, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; and you will nurse, and you will be carried on her hip, and bounced upon her knees.