How, then, can you repulse even one officer from the least of my master's officials, when you are depending for yourselves on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim? Have they saved Samaria from me?

"O LORD of the Heavenly Armies, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth.

and have thrown their gods into the fire but they are not gods, but rather the products of human hands, mere wood and stone. So the Assyrians destroyed them.

So now, LORD our God, save us from his oppressive hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."

Their inhabitants are devoid of power, and are terrified and put to shame. They've become like plants in the field, like green shoots, like grass on rooftops, scorched by the east wind.

Then the ones belonging to the house of Judah who have escaped will gather, and those who are found will take root downward and bear fruit upward.

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.'"

I said, "Must I leave in the prime of my life? Must I be consigned to the control of Sheol? Bitter are my years!"

"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.

Grass withers and flowers fade away when the LORD's breath blows on them; surely the people are like grass.

"Look! The nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are reckoned as dust on the scales. Look! He even lifts up the islands like powder!

Lebanon would not provide enough fuel, nor are its animals enough for a burnt offering.

All the nations are as nothing before him they are reckoned by him as nothing and chaos.

He's the one who sits above the disk of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He's the one who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in,

No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the earth, than he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest sweeps them away like stubble.

"The coastlands have looked and are afraid; the ends of the earth have drawn near together and come forward.

"Look! All who are enraged at you will be put to shame and disgraced; those who contend with you will all die.

"As for the poor, the needy, those seeking water when there is none and their tongues are parched from thirst I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, won't abandon them.

Tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods! Yes, do something good or something bad, so we may hear and gaze at it together.'"

"Look! You and your work are less than nothing; whoever finds you pleasing is disgusting."

"You are stirring up one from the north, and they are coming from the rising of the sun; and he will be called by his name. Rulers will arrive like mud; just like a potter, he will trample the clay.

See, none of them exist, and their deeds are nothing. Their metal images are only wind and confusion.'"

to open blind eyes and to bring out those who are bound from their cells, and those sitting in darkness from prison.

I'll help the blind walk, even on a road they do not know; I'll guide them in directions they do not know. I'll turn the dark places into light in front of them, and the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I won't abandon them.

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.'"

You've seen many things, but you pay no attention. His ears are open, but he doesn't listen.

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.

"Bring out the people who are blind, yet still have eyes, who are deaf, yet still have ears!

"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and trust me and understand that I am the One. Before me no God was formed, nor will there be one after me.

I've revealed and saved and proclaimed, when there was no foreign god among you and you are my witnesses," declares the LORD.

"And yet you didn't call upon me, Jacob; indeed, you are tired of me, Israel!

Don't tremble, and don't be afraid. Didn't I tell you and announce it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? There is no other Rock I don't know of any."

Now, all the forming of images means nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their own witnesses cannot see, and they know nothing. So they will be put to shame.

To be sure, all who associate with it will be put to shame; and as for the craftsmen, they are only human. Let them all gather together and take their stand. Then let them be terrified they will be humiliated together.

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."

They don't realize; they don't understand, because their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds, too, so they cannot understand.

"Remember these things, Jacob, Israel, for you are my servant. I have formed you; you are a servant to me. Israel, you must not mislead me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other besides me: and there are no gods. I'm strengthening you, although you have not acknowledged me,

"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?'!"

"Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.

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.

"Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low. Their idols are on beasts, on livestock. Your loads are more burdensome than their reports.

They stoop, they bow down together, and they are not able to rescue the burden, but they themselves go off into captivity.

"Listen to me, you hard-hearted, you who are far removed from righteousness:

"See, they are just like stubble; fire burns them up. They could not even save themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals for warming oneself, no fire to sit by.

"Listen to this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and who have come forth from Judah's loins; you who swear oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel but not in truth, nor in good faith.

Because I knew that you are obstinate, and because your neck is an iron sinew, and your forehead is bronze,

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

He said to me: "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will glorify myself.'

saying to captives, "Come out!' and to those who are in darkness, "Be free!' "They will feed on all the mountains, and their pasture will be on all the barren hills.

Look! I've inscribed you on the palms of my hands, and your walls are forever before me.

Your builders are working faster than your destroyers, and those who devastated you go away from you.

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.'

"The Lord GOD has given me a learned tongue, so that I may know how to sustain the weary with words. And morning after morning he wakens, and he wakens my ear to listen like those who are being taught.

"I yes, I am the one who comforts you. Who are you, that you are so afraid of humans who will die, descendants of mere men, who have been made like grass?

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.'

"Now therefore, what am I doing here," asks the LORD, "seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Those who rule over them are deluded," says the LORD, "and continuously, all the day long, my name is blasphemed.

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the one who brings news of peace, who announces good things, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!'

But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

"For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge. They are all dumb dogs they cannot bark. They keep on dreaming and lying around, and they're lovers of sleep!

Meanwhile, the dogs have a mighty appetite they can never get enough. And as for them, they are the shepherds who lack understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, each and every one.

"Also the righteous are perishing, but no one takes it to heart; devout people are taken away, while no one understands that the righteous person is taken away from calamity.

Whom are you mocking? And against whom do you make a wide mouth and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the offspring of lies,

"Among the smooth stones of the ravines is your portion there they are as your lot. To them you have poured out drink offerings; you have brought grain offerings. Should I be lenient over such things?

But the wicked are tossed like the sea; for it is not able to keep still, and its waters toss up mire and mud.

They seek me day after day, and are eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practices righteousness and has not forsaken the justice of their God. "They ask me to reveal just decisions; they are eager to draw near to God.

"See, the LORD's hand is not too short to save, nor are his ears too dull to hear.

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your tongue mutters wickedness.

Their cobwebs cannot become clothing, they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are deeds of iniquity, and acts of violence fill their hands.

Their feet rush to evil, and they are quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; ruin, destruction, and violence are in their paths.

"For our transgressions before you are many, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we acknowledge them:

they've rebelled in treachery against the LORD, and are turning away from following our God; and they've spoken oppression and revolt, and are conceiving lying words from the heart.

"Who are these that fly like clouds, and like doves to their windows?

Then your people will all be righteous; They'll possess the land forever. They are the shoot that the LORD planted, the works of his hands, so that I might be glorified.

Your offspring will be known among the nations, and your descendants among the people. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed."

Here is the LORD! Proclaim to the ends of the earth, say to the inhabitants of Zion: "See, your salvation is coming! See, his reward is with him, and his recompenses are before him.'

For he said, "Surely they are my people, children who won't act falsely." And so he became their savior.

Look down from heaven, and see from your holy and glorious dwelling. Where are your zeal and your might? Where are the yearning of your heart and your compassion? They are held back from me.

But you are our Father, even Abraham does not know us and Israel has not acknowledged us; you are he, O LORD, our Father, from long ago, "Our Redeemer' is your name.

Why, LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts, so that we do not fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.

For a long time we have been those you do not rule, those who are not called by your name.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy rag; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our iniquities sweep us away.

But as for you, O LORD, you are our Father; and we are clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hands.

Don't be angry beyond measure, LORD, and don't remember our iniquity for a season. Please look now, we are all your people.

who say, "Keep to yourself!' "Don't touch me!' and "I am too holy for you!' "Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day long.

Then whoever takes an oath by the God of faithfulness, and whoever takes an oath in the land, will swear by the God of faithfulness, because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.

Before they call, I will answer, while they are still speaking, I'll hear.

"Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves, following the one at the center of those who eat the meat of pigs, disgusting things, and rats, are all alike," says the LORD.

Has a nation ever changed gods when they aren't even gods? But my people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit.

Young lions roar at him, they cry out loudly. They have made his land into a wasteland, and his cities are destroyed so they are without inhabitants.

Now, what are you doing on the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile? And what are you doing on the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates?

"How can you say, "I'm not defiled. I haven't gone after the Baals.'? Look at what you've done in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift young camel galloping aimlessly;

"Don't run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you say, "It's hopeless! Because I love foreign gods, I'll go after them!'"

who say to a tree, "You are my father,' and to a stone, "You gave birth to me.' They have turned their back to me, but not their faces. In the time of their trouble, they'll say, "Rise up! Deliver us!'"

"But where are your gods that you made for yourselves? Let them rise up, if they can deliver you in the time of your trouble. You have as many gods as you have towns, Judah.