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.

O sky, rain down from above! Let the clouds send down showers of deliverance! Let the earth absorb it so salvation may grow, and deliverance may sprout up along with it. I, the Lord, create it.

Gather together and come! Approach together, you refugees from the nations! Those who carry wooden idols know nothing, those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.

"Listen to me, O family of Jacob, all you who are left from the family of Israel, you who have been carried from birth, you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.

Those who empty out gold from a purse and weigh out silver on the scale hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god. They then bow down and worship it.

They put it on their shoulder and carry it; they put it in its place and it just stands there; it does not move from its place. Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply; it does not deliver him from his distress.

who announces the end from the beginning and reveals beforehand what has not yet occurred, who says, 'My plan will be realized, I will accomplish what I desire,'

who summons an eagle from the east, from a distant land, one who carries out my plan. Yes, I have decreed, yes, I will bring it to pass; I have formulated a plan, yes, I will carry it out.

Listen to me, you stubborn people, you who distance yourself from doing what is right.

You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand -- the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions -- let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you!

Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy.

Listen to this, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name 'Israel,' and are descended from Judah, who take oaths in the name of the Lord, and invoke the God of Israel -- but not in an honest and just manner.

You have heard; now look at all the evidence! Will you not admit that what I say is true? From this point on I am announcing to you new events that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about.

You did not hear, you do not know, you were not told beforehand. For I know that you are very deceitful; you were labeled a rebel from birth.

For the sake of my reputation I hold back my anger; for the sake of my prestige I restrain myself from destroying you.

Approach me! Listen to this! From the very first I have not spoken in secret; when it happens, I am there." So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit.

Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, and your children like its granules. Their name would not have been cut off and eliminated from my presence.

Leave Babylon! Flee from the Babylonians! Announce it with a shout of joy! Make this known! Proclaim it throughout the earth! Say, 'The Lord protects his servant Jacob.

Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people who live far away! The Lord summoned me from birth; he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.

So now the Lord says, the one who formed me from birth to be his servant -- he did this to restore Jacob to himself, so that Israel might be gathered to him; and I will be honored in the Lord's sight, for my God is my source of strength --

Look, they come from far away! Look, some come from the north and west, and others from the land of Sinim!

Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!

Then you will think to yourself, 'Who bore these children for me? I was bereaved and barren, dismissed and divorced. Who raised these children? Look, I was left all alone; where did these children come from?'"

Can spoils be taken from a warrior, or captives be rescued from a conqueror?

Indeed," says the Lord, "captives will be taken from a warrior; spoils will be rescued from a conqueror. I will oppose your adversary and I will rescue your children.

Why does no one challenge me when I come? Why does no one respond when I call? Is my hand too weak to deliver you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Look, with a mere shout I can dry up the sea; I can turn streams into a desert, so the fish rot away and die from lack of water.

I offered my back to those who attacked, my jaws to those who tore out my beard; I did not hide my face from insults and spitting.

Look, all of you who start a fire and who equip yourselves with flaming arrows, walk in the light of the fire you started and among the flaming arrows you ignited! This is what you will receive from me: you will lie down in a place of pain.

"Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, who seek the Lord! Look at the rock from which you were chiseled, at the quarry from which you were dug!

Did you not dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep? Did you not make a path through the depths of the sea, so those delivered from bondage could cross over?

Wake up! Wake up! Get up, O Jerusalem! You drank from the cup the Lord passed to you, which was full of his anger! You drained dry the goblet full of intoxicating wine.

So listen to this, oppressed one, who is drunk, but not from wine!

This is what your sovereign master, the Lord your God, says: "Look, I have removed from your hand the cup of intoxicating wine, the goblet full of my anger. You will no longer have to drink it.

He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.

He was led away after an unjust trial -- but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.

"Indeed, the Lord will call you back like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, like a young wife when she has been rejected," says your God.

Even if the mountains are removed and the hills displaced, my devotion will not be removed from you, nor will my covenant of friendship be displaced," says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.

The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.

The people who do this will be blessed, the people who commit themselves to obedience, who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, who refrain from doing anything that is wrong.

No foreigner who becomes a follower of the Lord should say, 'The Lord will certainly exclude me from his people.' The eunuch should not say, 'Look, I am like a dried-up tree.'"

Behind the door and doorpost you put your symbols. Indeed, you depart from me and go up and invite them into bed with you. You purchase favors from them, you love their bed, and gaze longingly on their genitals.

Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond; you will cry out, and he will reply, 'Here I am.' You must remove the burdensome yoke from among you and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.

You must observe the Sabbath rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. You must look forward to the Sabbath and treat the Lord's holy day with respect. You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities, and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals.

But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God; your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.

For this reason deliverance is far from us and salvation does not reach us. We wait for light, but see only darkness; we wait for a bright light, but live in deep darkness.

We all growl like bears, we coo mournfully like doves; we wait for deliverance, but there is none, for salvation, but it is far from us.

We have rebelled and tried to deceive the Lord; we turned back from following our God. We stir up oppression and rebellion; we tell lies we concocted in our minds.

In the west, people respect the Lord's reputation; in the east they recognize his splendor. For he comes like a rushing stream driven on by wind sent from the Lord.

"As for me, this is my promise to them," says the Lord. "My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward," says the Lord.

Look all around you! They all gather and come to you -- your sons come from far away and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

Camel caravans will cover your roads, young camels from Midian and Ephah. All the merchants of Sheba will come, bringing gold and incense and singing praises to the Lord.

Indeed, the coastlands look eagerly for me, the large ships are in the lead, bringing your sons from far away, along with their silver and gold, to honor the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has bestowed honor on you.

You will be called, 'the Lord's priests, servants of our God.' You will enjoy the wealth of nations and boast about the riches you receive from them.

Who is this who comes from Edom, dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? Who is this one wearing royal attire, who marches confidently because of his great strength? "It is I, the one who announces vindication, and who is able to deliver!"

"I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself; no one from the nations joined me. I stomped on them in my anger; I trampled them down in my rage. Their juice splashed on my garments, and stained all my clothes.

Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. The messenger sent from his very presence delivered them. In his love and mercy he protected them; he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times.

Look down from heaven and take notice, from your holy, majestic palace! Where are your zeal and power? Do not hold back your tender compassion!

For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, Lord, are our father; you have been called our protector from ancient times.

Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways, and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance!

We existed from ancient times, but you did not rule over them, they were not your subjects.

They sit among the tombs and keep watch all night long. They eat pork, and broth from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans.

I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains. My chosen ones will take possession of the land; my servants will live there.

The sound of battle comes from the city; the sound comes from the temple! It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies.

For you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts.

For this is what the Lord says: "Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river, the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. You will nurse from her breast and be carried at her side; you will play on her knees.

They will bring back all your countrymen from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels to my holy hill Jerusalem," says the Lord, "just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord's temple in ritually pure containers.

From one month to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people will come to worship me," says the Lord.

The Lord again asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a pot of boiling water; it is tipped toward us from the north."

Then the Lord said, "This means destruction will break out from the north on all who live in the land.

Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants of Jacob, all you family groups from the nation of Israel.

This is what the Lord says: "What fault could your ancestors have possibly found in me that they strayed so far from me? They paid allegiance to worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.

Even the soldiers from Memphis and Tahpanhes have cracked your skulls, people of Israel.

What good will it do you then to go down to Egypt to seek help from the Egyptians? What good will it do you to go over to Assyria to seek help from the Assyrians?

They say to a wooden idol, 'You are my father.' They say to a stone image, 'You gave birth to me.' Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. Yet when they are in trouble, they say, 'Come and save us!'

Why do you constantly go about changing your political allegiances? You will get no help from Egypt just as you got no help from Assyria.

Moreover, you will come away from Egypt with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful and you will not gain any help from them.

"Come back to me, my wayward sons," says the Lord, "for I am your true master. If you do, I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.

At that time the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited. Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. "

From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal, has taken away all that our ancestors worked for. It has taken away our flocks and our herds, and even our sons and daughters.

Let us acknowledge our shame. Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our ancestors. From earliest times to this very day we have not obeyed the Lord our God.'

Like a lion that has come up from its lair the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base. He is coming out to lay your land waste. Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.

So put on sackcloth! Mourn and wail, saying, 'The fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us!'"

"At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be told, 'A scorching wind will sweep down from the hilltops in the desert on my dear people. It will not be a gentle breeze for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff.

"Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil so that you may yet be delivered. How long will you continue to harbor up wicked schemes within you?

For messengers are coming, heralding disaster, from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim.

They are saying, 'Announce to the surrounding nations, "The enemy is coming!" Proclaim this message to Jerusalem: "Those who besiege cities are coming from a distant land. They are ready to raise the battle cry against the towns in Judah."'

Because of this the land will mourn and the sky above will grow black. For I have made my purpose known and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out."

So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things.

The Lord says, "Listen, nation of Israel! I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you. It will be a nation that was founded long ago and has lasted for a long time. It will be a nation whose language you will not know. Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.

Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming. Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.'

This is what the Lord who rules over all said to me: "Those who remain in Israel will be like the grapes thoroughly gleaned from a vine. So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester passing your hand over the branches one last time."

"That is because, from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all of them practice deceit.

I take no delight when they offer up to me frankincense that comes from Sheba or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land. I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me. I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.'

"This is what the Lord says: 'Beware! An army is coming from a land in the north. A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.

From the time your ancestors departed the land of Egypt until now, I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again, day after day.

The Lord says, "When that time comes, the bones of the kings of Judah and its leaders, the bones of the priests and prophets and of all the other people who lived in Jerusalem will be dug up from their graves.

They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. These are things they adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground.

Why, then, do these people of Jerusalem continually turn away from me in apostasy? They hold fast to their deception. They refuse to turn back to me.

So I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.

I wish I had a lodging place in the desert where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. Then I would desert my people and walk away from them because they are all unfaithful to God, a congregation of people that has been disloyal to him.