They are at rest in their last resting-places, every one going straight before him.

But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,

Who are inflamed among oaks, under every green tree, Slaughtering the children in valleys, Under clefts of the rocks.

Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these?

“Upon a high and lofty mountain
You have [openly and shamelessly] made your [idolatrous and adulterous] bed;
Even there you went up to offer sacrifice [to idols, in spiritual unfaithfulness to Me].

Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.

“You have gone to the king [of a pagan land] with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have sent your messengers a great distance
And made them go down to Sheol (the realm of the dead).

“You were wearied by the length of your road,
Yet you did not say, ‘It is no use.’
You found renewed strength,
Therefore you did not grow weak.

And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not?

“I will declare your [hypocritical] righteousness and your deeds,
But they will not benefit you.

When thou criest, let them that are gathered by thee deliver thee! But a wind shall carry them all away, a breath shall take them; but he that putteth his trust in me shall inherit the land, and possess my holy mountain.

For, thus, saith he that is high and lifted up - Inhabiting futurity, And, holy, is his name: A high and holy place, will I inhabit, Also with the crushed and lowly in spirit, To revive the spirit of the lowly, and To revive the heart of them who are crushed; -

For I will not give punishment for ever, or be angry without end: for from me breath goes out; and I it was who made the souls.

I have seen his ways, and I will make him well: I will give him rest, comforting him and his people who are sad.

creating words of praise.”
The Lord says,
“Peace, peace to the one who is far or near,
and I will heal him.

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

“Cry aloud, do not hold back;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.

“Yet they seek Me day by day and delight [superficially] to know My ways,
As [if they were in reality] a nation that has done righteousness
And has not abandoned (turned away from) the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me righteous judgments,
They delight in the nearness of God.

Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

Like this, shall the fast be that I choose, A day for the son of earth to humble his soul? Is it to bow down as a rush his head, And sackcloth and ashes, to spread out? Is it, this, thou wilt call a fast, Or a day of acceptance with Yahweh?

Or is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? To loose wicked bonds, and to unbind bundles of oppression? And to let the bruised go free? And that ye should break all manner yokes?

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

“Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your healing (restoration, new life) will quickly spring forth;
Your righteousness will go before you [leading you to peace and prosperity],
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

“Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away from your midst the yoke [of oppression],
The finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and [every form of] wicked (sinful, unjust) speech,

And if you offer yourself to [assist] the hungry
And satisfy the need of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.

“And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

“And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations [of buildings that have been laid waste];
You will be called Repairer of the Breach,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

“If you turn back your foot from [unnecessary travel on] the Sabbath,
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a [spiritual] delight, and the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, not going your own way
Or engaging in your own pleasure
Or speaking your own [idle] words,

Then you will take pleasure in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the high places of the earth,
And I will feed you with the [promised] heritage of Jacob your father;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

No one sues righteously [but for the sake of doing injury to others—to take some undue advantage], and no one pleads [his case] in truth; [but rather]
They trust in empty arguments and speak lies;
They conceive trouble and bring forth injustice.

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.

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

They do not know the way of peace,
And there is no justice in their tracks.
They have made them into crooked paths;
Whoever walks on them does not know peace.

Therefore justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us.
We [expectantly] hope for light, but only see darkness;
We hope for gleam of light, but we walk in darkness and gloom.

We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

We make noises of grief, like bears, and sad sounds like doves: we are looking for our right, but it is not there; for salvation, but it is far from us.

For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;

In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.

He saw also, that there was no man which had pity thereof, or was grieved at it. And he held him by his own power, and cleaved to his own righteousness.

For He [the Lord] put on righteousness like a coat of armor,
And salvation like a helmet on His head;
He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
And covered Himself with zeal [and great love for His people] as a cloak.

According to deeds, so he will repay; wrath to his enemies, requital to those who are his {enemies}. He will repay requital to the coastlands.

So shall come in for Zion, a Redeemer, Even for such as are turning from transgression in Jacob, - Declareth Yahweh.

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you [writing the law of God on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your [true, spiritual] children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

“Arise [from spiritual depression to a new life], shine [be radiant with the glory and brilliance of the Lord]; for your light has come,
And the glory and brilliance of the Lord has risen upon you.

“Nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons come from afar, and thy daughters are carried upon the side.

“Then you will see and be radiant,
And your heart will tremble [with joy] and rejoice
Because the abundant wealth of the seas will be brought to you,
The wealth of the nations will come to you.

Caravans of camels will cover your land—
young camels of Midian and Ephah—
all of them will come from Sheba.
They will carry gold and frankincense
and proclaim the praises of the Lord.

All the flock of Kedar are gathered to thee, The rams of Nebaioth do serve thee, They ascend for acceptance Mine altar, And the house of My beauty I beautify.

Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?

“The islands and coastlands will confidently wait for Me;
And the ships of Tarshish will come first,
To bring your sons from far away,
Their silver and gold with them,
For the name of the Lord your God,
For the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you.

“Foreigners will build up your walls,
And their kings will serve you;
For in My [righteous] wrath I struck you,
But in My favor and grace I have had compassion on you.

And opened have thy gates continually, By day and by night they are not shut, To bring unto thee the force of nations, Even their kings are led.

For the nation and the kingdom that do not serve thee perish, Yea, the nations are utterly wasted.

“The sons of those who oppressed you will come bowing down to you [in submission],
And all those who despised you and treated you disrespectfully will bow down at the soles of your feet,
And they will call you the City of the Lord,
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Instead of your being deserted and hated,
with no one passing through,
I will make you an object of eternal pride,
a joy from age to age.

“You will suck the milk of the [Gentile] nations
And suck the breast (abundance) of kings;
Then you will recognize and know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

“Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
And instead of iron I will bring silver,
And instead of wood, bronze,
And instead of stones, iron.
And [instead of the tyranny of the present] I will appoint peace as your officers,
And righteousness your rulers.

“Violence will not be heard again in your land,
Nor devastation or destruction within your borders;
But you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise [to God].

“The sun will no longer be your light by day,
Nor shall the bright glow of the moon give light to you,
But the Lord will be an everlasting light for you;
And your God will be your glory and splendor.

“Your sun will no longer set,
Nor will your moon wane;
For the Lord will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning will be over.

And thy people are all of them righteous, To the age they possess the earth, A branch of My planting, A work of My hands, to be beautified.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

To grant to those who mourn in Zion the following:
To give them a turban instead of dust [on their heads, a sign of mourning],
The oil of joy instead of mourning,
The garment [expressive] of praise instead of a disheartened spirit.
So they will be called the trees of righteousness [strong and magnificent, distinguished for integrity, justice, and right standing with God],
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

They will rebuild the perpetual ruins and restore the places that were desolate; they will reestablish the ruined cities, the places that have been desolate since ancient times.

And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery with a burnt offering.
And I will faithfully reward them,
And make an everlasting covenant with them.

And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

The nations will see your righteousness and vindication [by God],
And all kings [will see] your glory;
And you will be called by a new name
Which the mouth of the Lord will designate.

You will also be [considered] a crown of glory and splendor in the hand of the Lord,
And a royal diadem [exceedingly beautiful] in the hand of your God.

It will no longer be said of you [Judah], “Azubah (Abandoned),”
Nor will it any longer be said of your land, “Shemamah (Desolate)”;
But you will be called, “Hephzibah (My Delight is in Her),”
And your land, “Married”;
For the Lord delights in you,
And to Him your land will be married [owned and protected by the Lord].

For as a young man marries a virgin [O Jerusalem],
So your sons will marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So your God will rejoice over you.

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that are Jehovah's remembrancers, take ye no rest,

The Lord has sworn [an oath] by His right hand and by His mighty arm,
“I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies,
Nor will [the invading] foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.”

but surely those who harvest it will eat it and praise the name of the LORD, and those who gather it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary,' says your God."

Go through, go through the gates,
Clear the way for the people;
Build up, build up the highway,
Remove the stones, lift up a banner over the peoples.

Listen carefully, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth,
Say to the Daughter of Zion, “Look now, your salvation is coming [in the Lord];
Indeed, His reward is with Him, and His restitution accompanies Him.”

Why is Your apparel red,
And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?

I trampled the winepress alone,
and no one from the nations was with Me.
I trampled them in My anger
and ground them underfoot in My fury;
their blood spattered My garments,
and all My clothes were stained.

For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

“I trampled the peoples in My anger
And made them drunk with [the cup of] My wrath,
And I spilled their lifeblood on the earth.”

For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.

It was no sent one or angel, but he himself who was their saviour: in his love and in his pity he took up their cause, and he took them in his arms, caring for them all through the years.

But they {were the ones who} rebelled, and they grieved {his Holy Spirit}, so he {became an enemy to them}; he himself fought against them.

Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?

He who made the arm of his glory go at the right hand of Moses, by whom the waters were parted before them, to make himself an eternal name;

Like the cattle that go down into the valley [to find better pasture and rest],
The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So You led Your people [O Lord]
To make for Yourself a beautiful and glorious name [preparing the way for the acknowledgment of Your name by all nations].

Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?

Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.

O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.