"I, the Lord, officially commission you; I take hold of your hand. I protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people, and a light to the nations,

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.

"I have been inactive for a long time; I kept quiet and held back. Like a woman in labor I groan; I pant and gasp.

I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. I will turn the darkness in front of them into light, and level out the rough ground. This is what I will do for them. I will not abandon them.

Now, this is what the Lord says, the one who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: "Don't be afraid, for I will protect you. I call you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I am with you; when you pass through the streams, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm you.

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your deliverer. I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price, Ethiopia and Seba in place of you.

Don't be afraid, for I am with you. From the east I will bring your descendants; from the west I will gather you.

everyone who belongs to me, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed -- yes, whom I made!

All nations gather together, the peoples assemble. Who among them announced this? Who predicted earlier events for us? Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right; let them listen and affirm, 'It is true.'

This is what the Lord says, your protector, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I send to Babylon and make them all fugitives, turning the Babylonians' joyful shouts into mourning songs.

the people whom I formed for myself, so they might praise me."

"But you did not call for me, O Jacob; you did not long for me, O Israel.

You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings; you did not honor me with your sacrifices. I did not burden you with offerings; I did not make you weary by demanding incense.

I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake; your sins I do not remember.

For I will pour water on the parched ground and cause streams to flow on the dry land. I will pour my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your children.

A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.

Half of it he burns in the fire -- over that half he cooks meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says, 'Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.'

With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying, 'Rescue me, for you are my god!'

They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern.

No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves: 'I burned half of it in the fire -- yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?'

Remember these things, O Jacob, O Israel, for you are my servant. I formed you to be my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you!

I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud, the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. Come back to me, for I protect you."

Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; shout out, you subterranean regions of the earth. O mountains, give a joyful shout; you too, O forest and all your trees! For the Lord protects Jacob; he reveals his splendor through Israel.

For the sake of my servant Jacob, Israel, my chosen one, I call you by name and give you a title of respect, even though you do not recognize me.

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.

It is me -- I stir him up and commission him; I will make all his ways level. He will rebuild my city; he will send my exiled people home, but not for a price or a bribe," says the Lord who commands armies.

Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; you will never again be ashamed or humiliated.

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.

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.

I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away; I am bringing my salvation near, it does not wait. I will save Zion; I will adorn Israel with my splendor."

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.

I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you could never say, 'My image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.'

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.

For my sake alone I will act, for how can I allow my name to be defiled? I will not share my glory with anyone else!

They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions; he makes water flow out of a rock for them; he splits open a rock and water flows out.'

There will be no prosperity for the wicked," says the Lord.

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.

But I thought, "I have worked in vain; I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing." But the Lord will vindicate me; my God will reward me.

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 --

he says, "Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant, to reestablish the tribes of Jacob, and restore the remnant of Israel? I will make you a light to the nations, so you can bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth."

This is what the Lord says: "At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you; in the day of deliverance I will help you; I will protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people, to rebuild the land and to reassign the desolate property.

They will not be hungry or thirsty; the sun's oppressive heat will not beat down on them, for one who has compassion on them will guide them; he will lead them to springs of water.

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

Shout for joy, O sky! Rejoice, O earth! Let the mountains give a joyful shout! For the Lord consoles his people and shows compassion to the oppressed.

Yes, your land lies in ruins; it is desolate and devastated. But now you will be too small to hold your residents, and those who devoured you will be far away.

Yet the children born during your time of bereavement will say within your hearing, 'This place is too cramped for us, make room for us so we can live here.'

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?'"

Kings will be your children's guardians; their princesses will nurse your children. With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you and they will lick the dirt on your feet. Then you will recognize that I am the Lord; those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.

But the sovereign Lord helps me, so I am not humiliated. For that reason I am steadfastly resolved; I know I will not be put to shame.

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.

Pay attention to me, my people! Listen to me, my people! For I will issue a decree, I will make my justice a light to the nations.

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.

Look up at the sky! Look at the earth below! For the sky will dissipate like smoke, and the earth will wear out like clothes; its residents will die like gnats. But the deliverance I give is permanent; the vindication I provide will not disappear.

For a moth will eat away at them like clothes; a clothes moth will devour them like wool. But the vindication I provide will be permanent; the deliverance I give will last."

These double disasters confronted you. But who feels sorry for you? Destruction and devastation, famine and sword. But who consoles you?

I will put it into the hand of your tormentors who said to you, 'Lie down, so we can walk over you.' You made your back like the ground, and like the street for those who walked over you."

Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful clothes, O Jerusalem, holy city! For uncircumcised and unclean pagans will no longer invade you.

For this is what the Lord says: "You were sold for nothing, and you will not be redeemed for money."

For this is what the sovereign Lord says: "In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt; Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.

And now, what do we have here?" says the Lord. "Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing, those who rule over them taunt," says the Lord, "and my name is constantly slandered all day long.

For this reason my people will know my name, for this reason they will know at that time that I am the one who says, 'Here I am.'"

Listen, your watchmen shout; in unison they shout for joy, for they see with their very own eyes the Lord's return to Zion.

In unison give a joyful shout, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord consoles his people; he protects Jerusalem.

Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic. For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard.

his form was so marred he no longer looked human -- so now he will startle many nations. Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, for they will witness something unannounced to them, and they will understand something they had not heard about.

But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.

Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. "My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins.

"Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth! Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one are more numerous than the children of the married woman," says the Lord.

For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your children will conquer nations and will resettle desolate cities.

Don't be afraid, for you will not be put to shame! Don't be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated! You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth; you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment.

For your husband is the one who made you -- the Lord who commands armies is his name. He is your protector, the Holy One of Israel. He is called "God of the entire earth."

"For a short time I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you.

"As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah's time, when I vowed that the waters of Noah's flood would never again cover the earth. In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.

You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. You will not experience oppression; indeed, you will not be afraid. You will not be terrified, for nothing frightening will come near you.

Look, I create the craftsman, who fans the coals into a fire and forges a weapon. I create the destroyer so he might devastate.

No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed; you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. This is what the Lord will do for his servants -- I will vindicate them," says the Lord.

Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is nourishing! Enjoy fine food!

Look, you will summon nations you did not previously know; nations that did not previously know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he bestows honor on you.

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.

for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans.

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.

This is what the Lord says, "Promote justice! Do what is right! For I am ready to deliver you; I am ready to vindicate you openly.

For this is what the Lord says: "For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and are faithful to my covenant,

I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument that will be better than sons and daughters. I will set up a permanent monument for them that will remain.

As for foreigners who become followers of the Lord and serve him, who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants -- all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, and who are faithful to my covenant --

I will bring them to my holy mountain; I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray."

The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain.

Whom are you worried about? Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully and not remember me or think about me? Because I have been silent for so long, you are not afraid of me.

When you cry out for help, let your idols help you! The wind blows them all away, a breeze carries them away. But the one who looks to me for help will inherit the land and will have access to my holy mountain."

For this is what the high and exalted one says, the one who rules forever, whose name is holy: "I dwell in an exalted and holy place, but also with the discouraged and humiliated, in order to cheer up the humiliated and to encourage the discouraged.

For I will not be hostile forever or perpetually angry, for then man's spirit would grow faint before me, the life-giving breath I created.

I am the one who gives them reason to celebrate. Complete prosperity is available both to those who are far away and those who are nearby," says the Lord, "and I will heal them.

There will be no prosperity," says my God, "for the wicked."

They seek me day after day; they want to know my requirements, like a nation that does what is right and does not reject the law of their God. They ask me for just decrees; they want to be near God.

No, this is the kind of fast I want. I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke.

I want you to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe him! Don't turn your back on your own flesh and blood!

Then you will find joy in your relationship to the Lord, and I will give you great prosperity, and cause crops to grow on the land I gave to your ancestor Jacob." Know for certain that the Lord has spoken.

For your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with sin; your lips speak lies, your tongue utters malicious words.