I will open rivers upon naked hills, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will set the desert for a pool of water, and the dry land for goings forth of water.

I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

“Present your case [for idols made by men’s hands],” says the Lord.
“Produce your evidence [of divinity],”
Says the king of Jacob.

They bring nigh, and declare to us that which doth happen, The first things -- what they are declare ye, And we set our heart, and know their latter end, Or the coming things cause us to hear.

Hear this! You [idols] are less than nothing,
And your work is worthless;
The worshiper who chooses you [as a god] is repulsive.

The first, I said to Zion, Behold, behold them! and to Jerusalem, I will give one that bringeth glad tidings.

He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

Thus said God, Jehovah, preparing The heavens, and stretching them out, Spreading out the earth and its productions, Giving breath to the people on it, And spirit to those walking in it.

To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

See, the things said before have come about, and now I give word of new things: before they come I give you news of them.

Let the wilderness with her cities lift up her voice; the towns also that be in Cedar. Let them be glad that sit upon rocks of stone; and let them cry down from the high mountains

They shall set glory to Jehovah, and they shall announce' his praise in the islands.

I will lay waste mountains and hills, and I will dry up all their green herbage; and I set the rivers for islands, and I will dry up the pools.

I brought the blind by a way they knew not; and I will cause them to tread in beaten paths they knew not: I will set darkness for light before them, and crooked ways into straightness; these words I did them, and I forsook them not

And this people was plundered and spoiled; snaring all of them in holes, and they were hid in houses of prisons: they were for plunder and none delivering; a treading down, and none said, Turn back

Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

And now, thus said Jehovah, Thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Fashioner, O Israel, Be not afraid, for I have redeemed thee, I have called on thy name -- thou art 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.

Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

All the nations, are gathered together Yea there is an assembling of peoples, Who among them, can tell this, And things in advance, can let us hear? Let them set forth their witnesses that they may get their right, Or let them hear, and say Truth!

Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: 'For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And caused bars to descend -- all of them, And the Chaldeans, whose song is in the ships.

Thus said Jehovah, Who is giving in the sea a way, And in the strong waters a path.

Behold me! doing a new thing, Now, shall it spring forth, Will ye not take note thereof? Surely I will set In the desert, a way, In a desolate land, rivers:

the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise.

Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.

Put me in remembrance; let us plead together: set thou forth thy cause , that thou mayest be justified.

Thus said Jehovah, thy Maker, and thy Former, From the womb He doth help thee; Fear not, my servant Jacob, And Jeshurun, whom I have fixed on.

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:

Thus said Jehovah, king of Israel, And his Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts: 'I am the first, and I the last, And besides Me there is no God.

And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.

Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house.

And none will set to his heart; and not knowledge, and not understanding to say, Half of it I burnt in the fire; and also I baked bread upon its coals; I will roast flesh and eat: and its remainder shall I make for an abomination? shall I fall down to a trunk of wood?

Thus said Jehovah, thy redeemer, And thy framer from the womb: 'I am Jehovah, doing all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, Spreading out the earth -- who is with Me?

Establishing the word of his Servant, And the counsel of his Messengers, he maketh good, - Who saith of Jerusalem - She shall be inhabited! And of the cities of Judah - They shall be built! And the ruins thereof, will I set up!

Thus said Jehovah, To His anointed, to Cyrus, Whose right hand I have laid hold on, To subdue nations before him, Yea, loins of kings I loose, To open before him two-leaved doors, Yea, gates are not shut:

Alas for him who contendeth with his Fashioner, - A potsherd, should contend with the potsherds of the ground! Shall it be said by the clay, unto him that is fashioning it, What wouldst thou make? Or, thy work say, of thee, He hath no hands?

Thus said Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel, and his Former: Ask Me of the things coming concerning My sons, Yea, concerning the work of My hands, ye command Me.'

I have stirred him up in righteousness, And all his ways I make straight, He doth build My city, and My captivity doth send out, Not for price, nor for bribe, said Jehovah of Hosts.

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 thus said Jehovah, Creator of heaven, He is God, Former of earth, and its Maker, He established it -- not empty He prepared it, For inhabiting He formed it: 'I am Jehovah, and there is none else.

I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

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.

“Declare and set forth your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
Who has announced this from of old?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a Savior;
There is none except Me.

Only in Jehovah, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come; and all they that were incensed against him shall be put to shame.

In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

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.

Sending for a bird of strong flight from the east, the man of my purpose from a far country; I have said it, and I will give effect to it; the thing designed by me will certainly be done.

Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will meet none to stay me. ...

Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.

I was angry against my people; I defiled my inheritances, and I will give them into thine hand, and thou didst not set mercy to them; upon the old thou didst make heavy thy yoke greatly.

“And you said, ‘I shall be a queen forevermore.’
You did not consider these things,
Nor did you [seriously] remember the [ultimate] outcome of such conduct.

Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:

For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.

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.

So are to you [those with] whom you have labored, your traders from your youth. They wander, each to his side; there is no one who can save you.

“Hear this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel
And who come from the seed of Judah,
You who swear [allegiance] by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth (sincerity) nor in righteousness [with moral and spiritual integrity].

For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.

Come together, all of you, and give ear; who among you has given news of these things? the Lord's loved one will do his pleasure with Babylon, and with the seed of the Chaldaeans.

Thus said Jehovah, thy redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, 'I am Jehovah thy God, teaching thee to profit, Causing thee to tread in the way thou goest.

Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

Ye shall go away from Babylon, and escape the Chaldeans with a merry voice. This shall be spoken of, declared abroad, and go forth unto the end of the world: so that it shall be said, "The LORD hath defended his servant Jacob,

There is no peace, said Jehovah, to the wicked!

And he set my mouth as a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me, and he will set me for a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me.

And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.

And now, said Jehovah, who is forming me from the belly for a servant to Him, To bring back Jacob unto Him, (Though Israel is not gathered, Yet I am honoured in the eyes of Jehovah, And my God hath been my strength.)

And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Thus said Jehovah, Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, To the despised in soul, To the abominated of a nation, To the servant of rulers: 'Kings see, and have risen, princes, and worship, For the sake of Jehovah, who is faithful, The Holy of Israel, and He chooseth thee.'

Thus said Jehovah: 'In a time of good pleasure I answered thee, And in a day of salvation I helped thee, And I keep thee, and give thee, For a covenant of the people, To establish the earth, To cause to inherit desolate inheritances.

And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be set on high.

But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

Behold, I have written thee up upon my hands, thy walls are ever in my sight.

Then the child whom the barren shall bring forth unto thee, shall say in thine ear, "This place is too narrow, sit nigh together, that I may have room."

And thou hast said in thy heart: 'Who hath begotten for me -- these? And I bereaved and gloomy, A captive, and turned aside, And these -- who hath nourished? Lo, I -- I was left by myself, these -- whence are they?

Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

For thus said Jehovah: Even the captive of the mighty is taken, And the prey of the terrible is delivered, And with thy striver I strive, and thy sons I save.

And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Thus said Jehovah: 'Where is this -- the bill of your mother's divorce, Whom I sent away? Or to which of My creditors have I sold you? Lo, for your iniquities ye have been sold, And for your transgressions Hath your mother been sent away.

Wherefore, I came, and no man? I called and none answered. Being short, was my hand shortened from redeeming? and if not power in me to deliver behold, in my rebuke I will dry up the sea; I will set the rivers a desert: their fish shall stink from no water, and they shall die with thirst

For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.

Listen carefully, all you who kindle your own fire [devising your own man-made plan of salvation],
Who surround yourselves with torches,
Walk by the light of your [self-made] fire
And among the torches that you have set ablaze.
But this you will have from My hand:
You will lie down in [a place of] torment.

For Jehovah comforted Zion: he comforted all her wastes, and he will set her desert as Eden, and her sterile region as the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found in her confession, and the voice of song.

“Pay attention to Me, O My people,
And give ear to Me, O My nation;
For a law will go forth from Me,
And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples.

But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.
You are in constant dread all day long
because of the fury of the oppressor,
who has set himself to destroy.
But where is the fury of the oppressor?

The prisoner is soon to be set free;
he will not die and go to the Pit,
and his food will not be lacking.

Thus said thy Lord Jehovah, and thy God, He pleadeth for his people: 'Lo, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling, The goblet, the cup of My fury, Thou dost not add to drink it any more.

But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

For thus said Jehovah: 'For nought ye have been sold, And not by money are ye redeemed.'

For thus said the Lord Jehovah: 'To Egypt My people went down at first to sojourn there, And Asshur -- for nought he hath oppressed it.

Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for they will see in plain sight the return of the LORD to Zion with compassion.

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

Leave! Leave! Get out of there! Don't touch anything unclean! Get out of it! Stay pure, you who carry the Lord's holy items!

(just as many were horrified by the sight of you) he was so disfigured he no longer looked like a man;

Men were cruel to him, but he was gentle and quiet; as a lamb taken to its death, and as a sheep before those who take her wool makes no sound, so he said not a word.

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.

Of the travail of his soul, shall he see He shall be satisfied with his knowledge, A setting right when set right himself, shall my Servant win for the Many, Since of their iniquities, he, taketh the burden.