The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

Over the ground of my people thorn -- brier goeth up, Surely over all houses of joy of the exulting city,

Let truth and faithfulness be in her time: power, health, wisdom, knowledge and the fear of God are her treasure.

The land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.

Now will I come forward, says the Lord; now will I be lifted up; now will my power be seen.

Ye conceive chaff, ye bear stubble, Your spirit! -- fire devoureth you.

Give ear, you who are far off, to what I have done: see my power, you who are near.

Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

There [the] owl shall nest and lay and hatch and care for her chicks in her shadow; surely there [the] birds of prey shall be gathered, each one [with] her mate.

It will be flowering like the rose; it will be full of delight and songs; the glory of Lebanon will be given to it; the pride of Carmel and Sharon: they will see the glory of the Lord, the power of our God.

No lion shall be there, nor any beast of prey shall go up on it; it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there.

And Rabshakeh saith unto them, 'Say ye, I pray you, unto Hezekiah, 'Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur, What is this confidence in which thou hast confided?

I said, 'Only a word of lips! {War has power and a plan}!' Now, in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?

Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

Seeing now that thou canst not resist the power of the smallest prince that my LORD hath, how darest thou trust in the chariots and horsemen of Egypt?

Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, "The Lord will rescue us." Has any of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria?

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria from my power?

Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?'"

and they say unto him, 'Thus said Hezekiah, A day of distress, and rebuke, and despising, is this day; for come have sons unto the birth, and power there is not to bear.

Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. So pray for this remnant that remains.'"

And Hezekiah will pray to Jehovah, saying,

Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord."

And Isaiah son of Amos will send to Hezekiah, saying, Thus said Jehovah God of Israel, Because thou didst pray to me against Senherib the king of Assur

Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Concerning the king of Asshur: He doth not come in unto this city, Nor doth he shoot there an arrow, Nor doth he come before it with shield, Nor doth he pour out against it a mount.

And Hezekiah will turn his face to the wall and pray to Jehovah.

and saith, 'I pray thee, O Jehovah, remember, I pray Thee, how I have walked habitually before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and that which is good in thine eyes I have done;' and Hezekiah weepeth -- a great weeping.

I've been swept bare until morning; just like a lion, he breaks all my bones day and night you make an end of me.

On a high mountain get thee up, O Zion, Proclaiming tidings, Lift up with power thy voice, O Jerusalem, proclaiming tidings, Lift up, fear not, say to cities of Judah, 'Lo, your God.'

See, the Lord God comes with strength,
and His power establishes His rule.
His reward is with Him,
and His gifts accompany Him.

He shall feed his flock like a herdsman. He shall gather the lambs together with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall kindly entreat those that bear young.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off the heavens by the span,
And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?

He who is poor by heave-offerings, A tree not rotten doth choose, A skilful artisan he seeketh for it, To establish a graven image -- not moved.

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

But those expecting Jehovah pass to power, They raise up the pinion as eagles, They run and are not fatigued, They go on and do not faint!

Keep silent towards Me, O isles, And the peoples pass on to power, They come nigh, then they speak, 'Together -- to judgment we draw near.'

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

I will do this so people will observe and recognize, so they will pay attention and understand that the Lord's power has accomplished this, and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being."

The Lord emerges like a hero, like a warrior he inspires himself for battle; he shouts, yes, he yells, he shows his enemies his power.

Seeing many things, and thou wilt not watch; opening the ears, and he will not bear.

But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.

Who gave, as a booty, Jacob. And, Israel, to them who were ready to take prey? Was it not Yahweh I? He against whom we have sinned, And they were not willing, in his ways, to walk, Neither hearkened they to his instruction?

So He poured out on Jacob His furious anger
and the power of war.
It surrounded him with fire, but he did not know it;
it burned him, but he paid no attention.

When you go through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not go over you: when you go through the fire, you will not be burned; and the flame will have no power over you.

I gave warning, I made whole, I taught you when there was no strange god among you. And this record must ye bear me yourselves, sayeth the LORD: that I am God.

From this day forward I am he; no one can deliver from my power; I will act, and who can prevent it?"

Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

yea, and that without any fear or stop. For have not I ever told you hitherto, and warned you? Ye can bear me record yourselves. Is there any God except me? Or any maker, that I should not know him?

All carvers of Images are but vain, and the carved images that they love can do no good. They must bear record themselves, that seeing they can neither see nor understand they shall be confounded.

Truly, all those who make use of secret arts will be put to shame, and their words of power are only words of men: let them all come forward together; they will all be in fear and be put to shame.

He hath wrought iron with an axe, And hath wrought with coals, And with hammers doth form it, And doth work it by his powerful arm, Yea, he is hungry, and there is no power, He doth not drink water, and he is wearied.

And its remainder he made for a god, for his carved image: he will fall down to it, and he will worship and pray to it, and say, Deliver me, for thou my god.

I am the Lord, I have no peer, there is no God but me. I arm you for battle, even though you do not recognize me.

I do this so people will recognize from east to west that there is no God but me; I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

Thus said Jehovah, 'The labour of Egypt, And the merchandise of Cush, And of the Sebaim -- men of measure, Unto thee pass over, and thine they are, After thee they go, in fetters they pass over, And unto thee they bow themselves, Unto thee they pray: Only in thee is God, And there is none else, no other God.

For this is what the Lord says, the one who created the sky -- he is the true God, the one who formed the earth and made it; he established it, he did not create it without order, he formed it to be inhabited -- "I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

Tell me! Present the evidence! Let them consult with one another! Who predicted this in the past? Who announced it beforehand? Was it not I, the Lord? I have no peer, there is no God but me, a God who vindicates and delivers; there is none but me.

Turn to me so you can be delivered, all you who live in the earth's remote regions! For I am God, and I have no peer.

And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.

Those who pour out their bags of gold
and weigh out silver on scales—
they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god.
Then they kneel and bow down to it.

They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! Truly I am God, I have no peer; I am God, and there is none like me,

calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.

Come and take your seat in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; come down from your seat of power, and take your place on the earth, O daughter of the Chaldaeans: for you will never again seem soft and delicate.

Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.

I was so wroth with my people, that I punished mine inheritance, and gave them into thy power. Nevertheless, thou showedest them no mercy, but even the very aged men of them, didst thou oppress right sore with thy yoke.

“But these two things shall come to you abruptly, in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many [claims of power through your] sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your enchantments.

Stand, I pray thee, in thy charms, And in the multitude of thy sorceries, In which thou hast laboured from thy youth, It may be thou art able to profit, It may be thou dost terrify!

Thou hast been wearied in the multitude of thy counsels, Stand up, I pray thee, and save thee, Let the charmers of the heavens, Those looking on the stars, Those teaching concerning the months, From those things that come on thee!

Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

Hear this, O thou house of Jacob; ye that are called by the name of Israel, and are come out of one stock with Judah; which swear by the name of the LORD, and bear witness by the God of Israel - but not with truth and right.

Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

“You have heard [these things foretold]; look at all this [that has been fulfilled].
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you [specific] new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.

All of you, gather together and listen! Who among them announced these things? The Lord's ally will carry out his desire against Babylon; he will exert his power against the Babylonians.

And I said, 'For a vain thing I laboured, For emptiness and vanity my power I consumed, But my judgment is with Jehovah, And my wage with my God.

Moreover, thus sayeth the LORD the avenger and holy one of Israel, because of the abhorring and despising among the Gentiles, concerning the servant of all them that bear rule: Kings and Princes shall see, and arise and worship, because of the LORD that he is faithful: and because of the holy one of Israel, which hath chosen thee.

saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture.

Then you'll ask in your heart, "Who bore these children for me, although I was childless and barren, and an exile and cast aside? Who brought these up? Look! For my part I was left all alone; but as for these, where have they come from?'

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

I am ready to vindicate, I am ready to deliver, I will establish justice among the nations. The coastlands wait patiently for me; they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power.

Wake up, wake up!
Put on the strength of the Lord’s power.
Wake up as in days past,
as in generations of long ago.
Wasn’t it You who hacked Rahab to pieces,
who pierced the sea monster?

I, even I, am your comforter: are you so poor in heart as to be in fear of man who will come to an end, and of the son of man who will be like grass?

There is no one to guide you out of all the children she bore, no one to take her by the hand out of all the children she brought up.

Therefore, hear, I pray thee, this, O afflicted and drunken one, and not with wine,

Make yourself clean from the dust; up! and take the seat of your power, O Jerusalem: the bands of your neck are loose, O prisoned daughter of Zion.

The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.

Who would have believed what we just heard? When was the Lord's power revealed through him?

Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.