Your land is devastated, your cities burned with fire. Right before your eyes your crops are being destroyed by foreign invaders. They leave behind devastation and destruction.

Learn to do what is right! Promote justice! Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! Take up the cause of the orphan! Defend the rights of the widow!

Come, let's consider your options," says the Lord. "Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become white like wool.

Indeed, a man will grab his brother right in his father's house and say, 'You own a coat -- you be our leader! This heap of ruins will be under your control.'

Therefore, as flaming fire devours straw, and dry grass disintegrates in the flames, so their root will rot, and their flower will blow away like dust. For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies, they have spurned the commands of the Holy One of Israel.

So the Lord told Isaiah, "Go out with your son Shear-jashub and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.

He will eat sour milk and honey, which will help him know how to reject evil and choose what is right.

Here is why this will be so: Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land whose two kings you fear will be desolate.

They devoured on the right, but were still hungry, they ate on the left, but were not satisfied. People even ate the flesh of their own arm!

A shoot will grow out of Jesse's root stock, a bud will sprout from his roots.

He will treat the poor fairly, and make right decisions for the downtrodden of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and order the wicked to be executed.

At that time a root from Jesse will stand like a signal flag for the nations. Nations will look to him for guidance, and his residence will be majestic.

They panic -- cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red.

"I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals and covered with pools of stagnant water. I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom," says the Lord who commands armies.

Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.

The poor will graze in my pastures; the needy will rest securely. But I will kill your root by famine; it will put to death all your survivors.

My heart cries out because of Moab's plight, and for the fugitives stretched out as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah. For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith; they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim.

What right do you have to be here? What relatives do you have buried here? Why do you chisel out a tomb for yourself here? He chisels out his burial site in an elevated place, he carves out his tomb on a cliff.

If the wicked are shown mercy, they do not learn about justice. Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; they do not see the Lord's majesty revealed.

The time is coming when Jacob will take root; Israel will blossom and grow branches. The produce will fill the surface of the world.

To you this entire prophetic revelation is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read and say, "Read this," he responds, "I can't, because it is sealed."

Or when they hand the scroll to one who can't read and say, "Read this," he says, "I can't read."

At that time the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll, and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness.

Now go, write it down on a tablet in their presence, inscribe it on a scroll, so that it might be preserved for a future time as an enduring witness.

They say to the visionaries, "See no more visions!" and to the seers, "Don't relate messages to us about what is right! Tell us nice things, relate deceptive messages.

You say, 'No, we will flee on horses,' so you will indeed flee. You say, 'We will ride on fast horses,' so your pursuers will be fast.

You will hear a word spoken behind you, saying, "This is the correct way, walk in it," whether you are heading to the right or the left.

For at that time everyone will get rid of the silver and gold idols your hands sinfully made.

A deceiver's methods are evil; he dreams up evil plans to ruin the poor with lies, even when the needy are in the right.

Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! Not one of these creatures will be missing, none will lack a mate. For the Lord has issued the decree, and his own spirit gathers them.

The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, along with a large army. The chief adviser stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.

Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him!

Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord's temple and spread it out before the Lord.

Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit.

A voice cries out, "In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord; construct in the desert a road for our God.

To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; he then seeks a skilled craftsman to make an idol that will not fall over.

Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw.

Don't be afraid, for I am with you! Don't be frightened, for I am your God! I strengthen you -- yes, I help you -- yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand!

For I am the Lord your God, the one who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you, 'Don't be afraid, I am helping you.'

A crushed reed he will not break, a dim wick he will not extinguish; he will faithfully make just decrees.

All nations gather together, the peoples assemble. Who among them announced this? Who predicted earlier events for us? Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right; let them listen and affirm, 'It is true.'

This is what the Lord says, the one who made a road through the sea, a pathway through the surging waters,

"Look, I am about to do something new. Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it? Yes, I will make a road in the desert and paths in the wilderness.

Remind me of what happened! Let's debate! You, prove to me that you are right!

One will say, 'I belong to the Lord,' and another will use the name 'Jacob.' One will write on his hand, 'The Lord's,' and use the name 'Israel.'"

He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say, 'Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?'

This is what the Lord says to his chosen one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold in order to subdue nations before him, and disarm kings, to open doors before him, so gates remain unclosed:

Listen to me, you stubborn people, you who distance yourself from doing what is right.

Yes, my hand founded the earth; my right hand spread out the sky. I summon them; they stand together.

I will make all my mountains into a road; I will construct my roadways."

Why does no one challenge me when I come? Why does no one respond when I call? Is my hand too weak to deliver you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Look, with a mere shout I can dry up the sea; I can turn streams into a desert, so the fish rot away and die from lack of water.

Listen to me, you who know what is right, you people who are aware of my law! Don't be afraid of the insults of men; don't be discouraged because of their abuse!

He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him.

For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your children will conquer nations and will resettle desolate cities.

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.

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.

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?

The least of you will multiply into a thousand; the smallest of you will become a large nation. When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!"

The Lord swears an oath by his right hand, by his strong arm: "I will never again give your grain to your enemies as food, and foreigners will not drink your wine, which you worked hard to produce.

Come through! Come through the gates! Prepare the way for the people! Build it! Build the roadway! Remove the stones! Lift a signal flag for the nations!

Who is this who comes from Edom, dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? Who is this one wearing royal attire, who marches confidently because of his great strength? "It is I, the one who announces vindication, and who is able to deliver!"

Why are your clothes red? Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat?

I looked, but there was no one to help; I was shocked because there was no one offering support. So my right arm accomplished deliverance; my raging anger drove me on.

You assist those who delight in doing what is right, who observe your commandments. Look, you were angry because we violated them continually. How then can we be saved?