And who pursues them and moves on unscathed by a path that his feet don't know?

Who has performed and carried this out, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD the first and will be with the last I am the One!"

Each helps his neighbor, saying to each other, "Be strong!'

Don't be afraid, because I'm with you; don't be anxious, because I am your God. I keep on strengthening you; I'm truly helping you. I'm surely upholding you with my victorious right hand."

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

Those who quarrel with you will be as nothing; those who fight you like nothing at all!"

"For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you, "Don't be afraid. I'll help you.

Don't be afraid, you little worm Jacob, and you insects of Israel! I myself will help you,' declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel."

"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.

And he won't grow faint or be crushed until he establishes justice on the mainland, and the coastlands take ownership of his Law."

Sing to the LORD a new song, and his praise from the ends of the earth, you who sail down the sea and by everything in it, you coastlands and their inhabitants.

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.

"Who among you will listen, and pay attention, and listen for the time to come?"

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.

When you pass through the waters, I'll be with you; and through the rivers, they won't sweep over you. when you walk through fire you won't be scorched, and the flame won't set you ablaze.

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you; I'll bring your children from the east, and gather you from the west.

everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the nations be assembled. "Who is there among them who can declare this, or announce the former things? Let them produce their witnesses to prove them right, and let them proclaim so people will say, "It's true.'

"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.

Recount the brief! Let's argue the matter together; Present your case, so that you may be proved right.

This what the LORD says, the one who made you, formed you from the womb, and who will help you: "Don't be afraid, Jacob my servant, and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

They'll spring up as among the green grass, like willows by flowing streams.

One will say, "I belong to the LORD,' and another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will have written on his hand, "the LORD's,' and will adopt the name of 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.

The blacksmith prepares a tool and works in the coals, then fashions an idol with hammers, working by the strength of his arm. He even becomes hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint.

The carpenter measures it with a line; he traces its shape with a stylus, then fashions it with planes and shapes it with a compass. He makes the idol like a human figure, with human beauty, to be at home in a shrine.

Half the wood he burns in the fire, and over that half he places meat so he can eat. He sits by its coals, warms himself, and says, "Ah! I am warm in front of the fire."

No one stops to think. No one has the knowledge or understanding to think yes to think! "Half of it I burned in the fire. I even baked bread on its coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And am I about to make detestable things from what is left? Am I about to bow down to blocks of wood?"

He tends ashes. A deceived mind has lead him astray. It cannot be his life, nor can he say, "There's a lie in my right hand."

who carries out the words of his servants, and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, "It will be inhabited," and of Judah's cities, "They will be rebuilt," and of her ruins, "I'll raise them up";

who says to the watery deep, "Be dry I will dry up your rivers;"

who says about Cyrus, "He's my shepherd, and he'll carry out everything that I please: He'll say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt,' and of my Temple, "Let its foundations be laid again.'"'"

I'll give you concealed treasures and riches hidden in secret places, so that you'll know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.

This is what the LORD says: "The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, those Sabeans, men of great heights. They'll come over to you and will be yours; They'll trudge behind you coming over in chains, they'll bow down to you. They'll plead with you, "Surely God is in you; and there is no other God at all.'"

All of them will be put to shame indeed, disgraced! The makers of idols will go off in disgrace together.

But Israel will be saved by the LORD with everlasting salvation; you won't be put to shame or disgraced ever again."

For this is what the LORD says, who created the heavens he is God, and the one who formed the earth and made it, and he is the one who established it; he didn't create itfor chaos, but formed it to be inhabited "I am the LORD and there is no other.

Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.

By myself I have sworn from my mouth has gone out integrity, a promise that won't be revoked: "To me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear.'

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.

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

"To whom will you compare me, count me equal, or liken me, so that I may be compared?

Those who pour out gold in a purse, weigh silver in a balance, hire a goldsmith in order to make a god, and then they bow down and even worship it.

Your nakedness will be exposed, and your disgrace will also be seen. I'll take vengeance, and I will spare no mortal.

"Now hear this, you wanton creature, lounging with no cares, and saying to herself: "I am the one, and there will be none besides me; I won't live as a widow, nor will I see the loss of children.'

"You trusted in your own knowledge. You said, "No one sees me.' Your wisdom and knowledge have misled you. You said in your heart, "I am the one, and there will be none besides me.'

"But disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will not be able to ward off; and devastation will come upon you suddenly, and you won't anticipate it.

"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.

So will they be to you those with whom you toiled and did business since your childhood they wander about, each in his own direction; there is not one who can save you.

"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.

For my own sake Yes, for my own sake! I'm doing it; indeed, how can I be profaned? Furthermore, I won't give my glory to another."

Let all of them come together and listen: Who is there among them that could declare these things? "The LORD loves me, and he will accomplish my purpose against Babylon; his arm will be against the Chaldeans.

"This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who directs you in the path by which you should go.

"Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people from far away! The LORD called me from the womb; while I was still in my mother's body, he pronounced my name.

"And now, says the LORD, who formed you from the womb as his servant to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him and I am honored in the LORD's sight and my God has been my help

he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I'll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.

"This is what my Lord says the LORD your Redeemer, O Israel, and his Holy One to one despised by people, to those abhorred as a nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings see and arise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who has chosen you."

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.

I'll turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways will be raised up.

Indeed, your ruins, your desolate places, and your devastated land will now be too crowded for your inhabitants, while those who swallowed you up will be far away.

"For this what the LORD says, "Watch! I'll lift up my hand to the nations and raise my banner to the nations. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.'

"Oh, yes! Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

"Can they seize plunder from warriors, or can the captives of tyrants be rescued?

But this is what the LORD says: "He will seize even the warriors' plunder, and the captives of tyrants will be rescued. I myself will quarrel with those who have a quarrel with you, and I myself will save your children.

Why is it that when I came, no one was there? Why was there no answer when I called? Was my arm too short to redeem you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? Look! By my mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert. Their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst.

For the Lord GOD helps me, so I won't be disgraced. Therefore I've made my face like flint, and I know that I won't be put to shame."

Look! All those who light a fire, who surround yourselves with flaming torches walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have set ablaze! This is what you will receive from my hand: you will lie down in torment.

For the LORD will have compassion on Zion, have compassion on all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her deserts like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving, and the sound of singing. Sorrow and sighing will flee away.

"Pay attention to me, my people! Listen to me, my nation! For instruction will go out from me, and my justice will become a light for the nations.

"Lift up your eyes, you heavens and look to the earth beneath; and see who created these. Its inhabitants will die just like this; but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never fail.

Listen to me, you who know righteousness, you people who have my instruction in their hearts. Don't fear the insults of mortals, and don't be dismayed at their hateful words.

"Awake! Awake! Clothe yourself with strength, you arm of the LORD! Awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of long ago. Was it not you who split apart Rehob, who pierced that sea monster through?

"The scattered ones of the LORD will return, and they will enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will be upon their heads; they will attain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Distress will quickly be set free. He won't die in the Pit, nor will he lack food."

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.

For this is what the LORD says: "You were sold for nothing, and you'll be redeemed without money."

For you won't go out in haste, nor will you go in flight; for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. He is called the God of all the earth."

"Look! My servant will prosper, and he will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high.

"He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, intimately familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces; and we despised him and did not value him.

"Surely he has borne our sufferings and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, and struck down by God, and afflicted.

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.

"Sing, you barren woman, even the one who never bore a child! Burst into song and shout for joy, even you who were never in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married," says the LORD.

"Enlarge the location of your tent, let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched wide, and don't hold back. Lengthen your cords; strengthen your stakes.

"Don't be afraid, because you won't be ashamed; don't fear shame, for you won't be humiliated because you will forget the disgrace of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

"For this is like the waters of Noah to me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again spread over the earth; so have I sworn that I won't be angry with you again and that I won't rebuke you.

Then all your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children's prosperity.

"In righteousness you'll be established; you will be far from tyranny, for you won't be afraid, and from terror, for it won't come near you.

Watch! If anyone does attack you, it will not be from me; whoever may attack you will fall because of you.

no weapon that is forged against you will be effective. This is the heritage of the LORD's servants, and their righteousness from me," says the LORD.

"Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters! Also, you that have no money, come, buy, and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Pay attention to me, come to me; and listen, so that you may live; then I'll make an everlasting covenant with you, as promised by my faithful, sure love for David.

"Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.

so will my message be that goes out of my mouth it won't return to me empty. Instead, it will accomplish what I desire, and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Instead of thornbushes, pine trees will grow, and instead of briers, myrtles will grow; and they will be a sign for the LORD, and an everlasting name that will not be cut off."

For this is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and soon my deliverance will be revealed.

to them I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

"Also, the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, and to bless the LORD'S name, observing the Sabbath without profaning it, and who hold fast my covenant