That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you continually tremble with fear all day long because of the rage of the oppressor,
As he takes aim to destroy?
And where is the rage of the oppressor?

The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

Enlarge the place of thy tent, stretch forth the hangings of thy dwellings; thou shalt not spare; lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy pegs.

For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

As a wife forsaken and grieved of spirit Jehovah called thee, and a wife of youth; for thou shalt be rejected, said thy God.

For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
Nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,”
Says the Lord who has compassion on you.

In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Wherefore should ye spend, Money, for that which is not bread? Or your labour, for that which, satisfieth not? Keep on hearkening unto me, And, so eat that which is good, And let your soul take exquisite delight in fatness:

Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle and sinful people their plans. They should return to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, and to their God, for he will freely forgive them.

Blessed is the man that doth this, and the man's child which keepeth the same. He that taketh heed, that he unhallow not the Sabbath; that is, he that keepeth himself that he do no evil.

No foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord
should say,
“The Lord will exclude me from His people”;
and the eunuch should not say,
“Look, I am a dried-up tree.”

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?

For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

Creating the fruit of the lips - Prosperity! Prosperity! For him that is far off and for him that is near saith Yahweh, So should I heal him.

Call with the throat; thou shalt not spare; as a trumpet lift up thy voice, and announce to my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sin.

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You do not see it?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Hear this [O Israel], on the day of your fast [when you should be grieving for your sins] you find something you desire [to do],
And you force your hired servants to work [instead of stopping all work, as the law teaches].

Is such the fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul, that he should bow down his head as a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to Jehovah?

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 break unto the hungry, thy bread, And the thrust-out oppressed, that thou bring into a home, - When thou seest one naked, that thou cover him, And from thine own flesh, shalt not hide thyself?

Then should the light break out as doth the dayspring, and then health should shortly bud out. And thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the LORD would come upon thee.

Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

And shalt let thine own soul a go out to the hungry, And the soul of the oppressed, thou shalt satisfy, Then shall break forth in darkness thy light, And thy thick darkness, become as the splendour of noon;

And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

But, your iniquities, have become separators betwixt you and your God, And your sins, have caused a biding of face from you that he should-not hear.

No one puts forward an upright cause, or gives a true decision: their hope is in deceit, and their words are false; they are with child with sin, and give birth to evil.

Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

Moreover, those shall come kneeling unto thee that have vexed thee: and all they that despised thee, shall fall down at thy foot. Thou shalt be called the city of the LORD, the holy Zion of Israel.

Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

Thou shalt no more have the sun, for light by day, neither for brightness, shall the moon, give light unto thee, - But Yahweh shall become thine age-abiding light, And thy God thine adorning:

to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, that beauty should be given unto them instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness: that they might be called terebinths of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified.

And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.

Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.

I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they should keep praying all day and all night. You who pray to the Lord, don't be silent!

And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?

Saying, Come near to thyself; thou shalt not touch upon me, for I was clean to thee. These a smoke in my wrath, a fire burning all the day.

Thus said Jehovah, As the new wine will be found in the cluster, and he will say, Thou shalt not destroy it, for a blessing in it: thus will I do for sake of my servant, to not destroy them all.

There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.

Like a child whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

Before I shall form thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou shalt go forth from the womb I consecrated thee; I gave thee a prophet to the nations.

Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

Thou shalt not be afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, says Jehovah.

Thou, therefore, shalt gird thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them, all that, I, command thee, - be not dismayed because of them, lest I dismay thee before their face.

A servant is Israel? Is he a child of the house? Wherefore hath he been for a prey?

Let thy wickedness correct thee And thine apostasies, rebuke thee, Know therefore and see That it is a wicked thing and a bitter, that thou shouldest have forsaken Yahweh thy God, And that the dread of me should not have pertained to thee, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

For though thou shalt wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, yet thy iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.

Say not now, 'I am not unclean, and I have not followed Baal.' Look upon thy own ways in the woods, valleys and dens: so shalt thou know, what thou hast done. Thou art like a swift Dromedary that goeth easily his way:

“But where are your gods
Which you made for yourself?
Let them get up, if they can save you
In the time of your trouble!
For [as many as] the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah. [Why do not your many man-made idols run to help you?]

Wherefore, should ye plead against me, All of you, have transgressed against me Declareth Yahweh.

Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.

Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

Commonly, when a man putteth away his wife, and she goeth from him, and marrieth with another, then the question is: should he resort unto her any more after that? Is not this field then defiled and unclean? But as for thee, thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet turn again to me, sayeth the LORD.

Will he guard forever? if he will watch to the end? Behold, I spake, and wilt thou do evil, and shalt thou be able?

Hast thou seen also, when she had done all this, how I said unto her that she should turn again unto me, and yet she is not returned? Judah, that unfaithful sister of hers also saw this:

But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

O Jerusalem, wash from evil to thy heart so that thou shalt be saved. How long shall purposes of thy vanity lodge in the midst of thee?

"Ah, my belly! Ah, my belly!" shalt thou cry, "how is my heart so sore?" My heart panteth within me, I cannot be still, for I have heard the crying of the trumpets, and peals of war.

And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

Wherefore should I pardon thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not God. I have satiated them, and they have committed adultery, and they troop to the harlots' house.

Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

Behold me! bringing upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, Declareth Yahweh, - A nation invincible, it is, A nation from age-past times, hath it been, A nation whose tongue thou shalt not know, Neither shalt thou understand what it speaketh:

And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

Even for me, will ye have no reverence? Enquireth Yahweh, And because of me, will ye not he pained? In that though I placed the sand as a bound to the sea, A decree age-abiding, and it should not pass beyond it, - When they would toss themselves Then should they not prevail, When the waves thereof would roar Then should they not pass beyond it,

They have become fat and strong: they have gone far in works of evil: they give no support to the cause of the child without a father, so that they may do well; they do not see that the poor man gets his rights.

Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

I was filled with the wrath of Jehovah; I was weary holding up; to pour out upon the child in the street and upon the assembly of the young men together; for also the man with the woman shall be taken, the old man with the full of days.

Therefore they must be ashamed, for they have committed abomination. But how should they be ashamed, when they know nothing, neither of shame nor good nurture? And therefore they shall fall among the slain; and in the hour when I shall visit them, they shall be brought down," sayeth the LORD.

Hear therefore ye Gentiles; and thou, congregation, shalt know what I have devised for them.

To what purpose should there come to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing unto me.

Then shall this cry be heard, "Our arms are feeble! Heaviness and sorrow is come upon us, as upon a woman travailing with child!

Thou shalt not go forth to the field, and thou shalt not go by the way; for the sword to the enemy, fear from round about.

O daughter of my people, gird yourself [with] sackcloth, and roll about in the ashes in mourning, a mourning ceremony [as for] an only child. Make for yourself wailing of bitterness, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

I gave thee a watch-tower among my people, a fortification, and thou shalt know and try their way.

Stand thou in the gate of the house of Yahweh, and thou shalt proclaim there this word, - and shalt say - Hear ye the word of Yahweh all Judah ye who are entering in at these gates, to bow down unto Yahweh:

If you are not cruel to the man from a strange country, and to the child without a father, and to the widow, and do not put the upright to death in this place, or go after other gods, causing damage to yourselves:

"Therefore thou shalt not pray for this people; thou shalt neither give thanks, nor bid prayer for them: thou shalt make no intercession to me for them for in no wise will I hear thee.

Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.

But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else'should I do, because of the daughter of my people?

Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?