"Listen to what the LORD says, you rulers of Sodom, and pay attention to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

"For a man will grab his brother in his own father's house, and say, "You have a cloak, so you be our leader, and this heap of ruins will be under your rule!'

"But at that time, he'll protest! He'll say, "I won't be your healer. I have neither food nor clothing in my house! You're not going to make me a leader of the people!'

"For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because what they say and do opposes the LORD; they keep defying him.

The LORD also says: "Because Zion's women are so haughty, and walk with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, prancing along as they walk, and making tinkling noises with their ankle bracelets,

who say: "Let God be quick, let him speed up his work so we may see it! Let it happen! let the plan of the Holy One of Israel draw near, so we may recognize it!'"

"But this is what the Lord GOD has to say: ""It won't take place. It won't ever happen.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies says: "My people, you who live in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrians, of the rod that beats you, who lift up their club against you as the Egyptians did.

At that time, you will say: "I will praise you, LORD, for although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me.

You will draw water joyfully from the wells of salvation. And you will say at that time:

Zoan's princes are nothing but fools; the wisest advisors of Pharaoh give stupid advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I'm a descendant of wise men, a descendant of ancient kings"?

At that time, the inhabitants of this coastland will say, "See, this is what has happened to those on whom we counted and relied for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How, then, can we escape?'"

But look! There is joy and festivity, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating meat and drinking wine. "Let us eat and drink, you say, because we die tomorrow."

"Nevertheless, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has revealed himself to my hearing: ""Surely because of you this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,' says the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies."

This is what the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies says:

From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise: "Glory to the Righteous One!' "But I say, "I am pining away, I'm pining away. How terrible things are for me! For treacherous people betray treacherous people are betraying with treachery!'"

"And you will say at that time, "Look! It's the LORD! This is our God! We waited for him, and he saved us. This is the LORD! We waited for him, so let us rejoice, and we will be glad that he has saved us."

therefore this is what the LORD God says: "Look! I am laying a foundation stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation: Whoever believes firmly will not act hastily.

"Pay attention! Listen to what I have to say; Pay attention, and hear my speech.

"And this entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed book. When people give it to someone who can read, and say, "Read this, please,' he answers, "I cannot, because it is sealed.'

Or when they give the book to someone who cannot read, and say, "Read this, please,' he answers, "I don't know how to read.'"

"How terrible it will be for you who go to great depths to hide your plans from the LORD, you whose deeds have been done in the dark, and who say, "Who can see us? Who has recognized us?'

He has turned the tables on you as if the potter were thought to be like heat. Can what is made say of the one who made it, "He did not make me?' Or can what is formed say of the ones who formed it, "He has no skill?'

"Therefore, this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob: "No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will his face grow pale.

They say to the seers, "Don't see visions,' and to the prophets, "Don't give us visions of what is right! Instead, tell us welcome things, prophesy illusions,

Therefore, this is what the Holy One of Israel says: "Because you reject this message, and put your trust in oppression and enjoy it, and since you rely on it,

For this is what the LORD GOD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest you will be saved; in staying calm and trusting will be your strength. But you refused.

Then you will defile your carved idols that are overlaid with silver and your images plated with gold. You'll throw them away like disgusting objects and say to them, "Away with you!"

"As for you ladies of leisure Get up and listen to my voice! You daughters who feel so complacent hear what I have to say!

And no one living there will say, "I am ill.' The people living there will have their sins forgiven."

Say to those with anxious hearts, "Be strong, do not be afraid! Here is your God he will bring vengeance, he will bring divine retribution, and he will save you.'

"Tell Hezekiah, king of Judah, "This is what the mighty king, the king of Assyria, has to say: What is this "guarantee" that makes you yourself rely on it? Do you really think that guarantees alone can withstand strategy and military strength? On whom are you now depending, that you're rebelling against me?

But if you all say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God" - isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, while he kept on telling Judah and Jerusalem, "You are to worship in front of this altar in Jerusalem'?

"Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king of Assyria says: "Don't let Hezekiah deceive you for he cannot save you!

Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD when he says, "The LORD will really deliver us!" and "This city will never be handed over to the king of Assyria!"

Don't listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: "Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then everyone will eat from his own vine and from his own fig tree, and everyone will drink water from his own cistern,

Be careful not to let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, "The LORD will save us." Has any god of any nation ever delivered his country from the king of Assyria?

"Here is what Hezekiah says," they told him. "This day is a day of trouble, rebuke, and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no energy to deliver them.

"Here is what to tell your master," Isaiah told them. "This is what the LORD says: "Don't be afraid of the words you've heard those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have insulted me.

When he heard it, he returned and sent messengers to Hezekiah: "Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: "Don't let your God on whom you depend deceive you when he says, "Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria."

Then Amoz's son Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, to whom you prayed concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.

"Therefore this what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He won't enter this city, build up a siege ramp against it, shoot an arrow here, or threaten it with a shield.

During that time, Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. Then Amoz's son Isaiah the prophet came to him and told him, "This is what the LORD says: "Put your house in order, because you are going to die. You won't recover.'"

"Go tell Hezekiah, "This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David has to say: "I've heard your prayer and I've seen your tears; so I will add fifteen years to your life.

What can I say, so I tell myself, since he has done this to me? I will walk slowly all my years because of my soul's anguish.

Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, "What did these men have to say? And from where did they come to you?" Hezekiah replied, "From a distant land they came to me from Babylon."

"The days are surely coming when everything in your palace and all that your ancestors have stored up to this day will be carried off to Babylon. They will come in, and nothing will be left,' says the LORD.

"Comfort! Yes, comfort my people," says your God.

A voice says, "Cry out!" So I asked, "What am I to cry out?" "All humanity is grass, and all its loyalty is like the flowers of the field.

"Climb up a high mountain, you messenger of good news to Zion! Lift up your voice with strength, you messenger to Jerusalem! Lift it up! Don't be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!'

"Jacob, why do you say and Israel, why do you complain "My predicament is hidden from the LORD, and my cause is ignored by my God.'?

The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and the hammersmith encourages the one who strikes the anvil. He says about the welding, "It's good!' and he reinforces it with nails so that it won't topple."

"For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you, "Don't be afraid. I'll help you.

"Put forward your case!" says the LORD. "Submit your arguments!" says Jacob's King.

This is what God says the God who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its produce, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:

Those who trust in carved idols will turn back and be completely disappointed, along with those who say to metal images, "You are our gods.'"

But this is a people who have been robbed and plundered, all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons. They have become prey, with no one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no one to say, "Send them back!'

But now this is what the LORD says, the one who created you, Jacob, the one who formed you, Israel: "Do not be afraid, because I've redeemed you. I've called you by name; you are mine.

I'll say to the north, "Give them up'! and to the south, "Don't keep them back!' Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the ends of the earth

Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the nations be assembled. "Who is there among them who can declare this, or announce the former things? Let them produce their witnesses to prove them right, and let them proclaim so people will say, "It's true.'

This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon, and bring them all down as fugitives. Now as for the Babylonians, their ringing cry will become lamentation.

This is what the LORD says who makes a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,

This what the LORD says, the one who made you, formed you from the womb, and who will help you: "Don't be afraid, Jacob my servant, and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

One will say, "I belong to the LORD,' and another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will have written on his hand, "the LORD's,' and will adopt the name of Israel."

This is what the LORD says, the King of Israel and its Redeemer the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name "I am the first and I am the last, and apart from me there is no God.

Half the wood he burns in the fire, and over that half he places meat so he can eat. He sits by its coals, warms himself, and says, "Ah! I am warm in front of the fire."

And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks of wood he bows down, worships, prays, and says, "Save me, since you are my god."

He tends ashes. A deceived mind has lead him astray. It cannot be his life, nor can he say, "There's a lie in my right hand."

"This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer and the one who formed you in the womb: "I am the LORD, who has made everything, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth Who was with me at that time?

who carries out the words of his servants, and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, "It will be inhabited," and of Judah's cities, "They will be rebuilt," and of her ruins, "I'll raise them up";

who says to the watery deep, "Be dry I will dry up your rivers;"

who says about Cyrus, "He's my shepherd, and he'll carry out everything that I please: He'll say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt,' and of my Temple, "Let its foundations be laid again.'"'"

This is what the LORD says to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, as I strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him and gates that cannot keep closed:

"Shout, you skies above, and you clouds, and let righteousness stream down. I am the one who says to the earth, "Let salvation blossom, and let righteousness sprout forth.'

"Woe to the one who quarrels with his makers, a mere potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Woe to the one who says to the one forming him, "What are you making?' or "Your work has no human hands?'!

Woe to the one who says to his father, "What are you begetting?' or to a woman, "To what are you giving birth?'!"

This is what the Lord says, the Creator of the signs: "Question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands.

"I have aroused him in righteousness, and I'll make all his pathways smooth. It is he who will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price nor reward, " says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

This is what the LORD says: "The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, those Sabeans, men of great heights. They'll come over to you and will be yours; They'll trudge behind you coming over in chains, they'll bow down to you. They'll plead with you, "Surely God is in you; and there is no other God at all.'"

For this is what the LORD says, who created the heavens he is God, and the one who formed the earth and made it, and he is the one who established it; he didn't create itfor chaos, but formed it to be inhabited "I am the LORD and there is no other.

I didn't speak in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I didn't say to Jacob's descendants, "Seek me in chaos.' I, the LORD, speak truth, declaring what is right.

One will say of me, "Only in the LORD are victories and might.' All who raged against him will come to him and will be put to shame.

I told you these things long ago; I announced them to you before they happened so that you couldn't say, "My idol did them; my carved image or metal idol ordained them.'

They are created now, and not long ago; you didn't hear them before today, so you cannot say, "Yes, I knew them.'

"This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who directs you in the path by which you should go.

"Go out from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans! With happy shouts, announce and proclaim this to the ends of the earth: Say, "The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!'

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

"And now, says the LORD, who formed you from the womb as his servant to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him and I am honored in the LORD's sight and my God has been my help

he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I'll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.

"This is what my Lord says the LORD your Redeemer, O Israel, and his Holy One to one despised by people, to those abhorred as a nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings see and arise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who has chosen you."

"This what the LORD says: "I'll answer you in a time of favor, and on a day of salvation I'll help you. I have watched over you, and given you as a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to reassign the inheritances that have been devastated;

Lift up your eyes and look around they have all gathered together and are coming to you. "As surely as I live," says the LORD, "you will clothe yourself with all of them like ornaments, and tie them on like a bride.

"The children who are grieving at present will yet say in your hearing, "This place is too crowded for me; make room for me, so I may have a place to live.'

"For this what the LORD says, "Watch! I'll lift up my hand to the nations and raise my banner to the nations. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.'

But this is what the LORD says: "He will seize even the warriors' plunder, and the captives of tyrants will be rescued. I myself will quarrel with those who have a quarrel with you, and I myself will save your children.

This is what the LORD says: "Where is your mother's certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look! It's because of your sins that you were sold, and because of your transgressions that your mother was sent away.

I have put my words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of my hand, so that I could plant the heavens and lay the earth's foundations, to say to Zion, "You are my people.'

This is what your Lord, the LORD, says, your God, who defends his people's cause: "See, I have taken from your hand the cup that made you stagger. And you will never again drink to the dregs the cup that is my anger.

For this is what the LORD says: "You were sold for nothing, and you'll be redeemed without money."

For this is what the LORD says: "My people went down long ago into Egypt to live there; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause.