"Present your legal case," says Yahweh. "Bring your evidence," says the king of Jacob.

Let them bring [them], and let them tell us what will happen. Tell us what the former things [are] {so that} we may take [them to] our heart and know their outcome. Declare to us the things to come;

tell [us] the things coming {hereafter}, that we may know that you [are] gods. Indeed, do good or do evil, that we may be afraid and see together.

Look! you [are] nothing, and your work [is] something worthless; whoever chooses you [is] an abomination.

Who declared [it] from [the] {beginning} {so that} we might know, and {beforehand} {so that} we might say, "[He is] {right}!" Indeed, there was no one who declared [it]; Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed [it]. Indeed there was no one who heard your words.

Look! All of them [are] deception; their works [are] nothing; their images [are] wind and emptiness.

"I [am] Yahweh; I have called you in righteousness, and I have grasped your hand and watched over you; and I have given you as a covenant of [the] people, as a light of [the] nations,

Yahweh goes forth like a mighty warrior; he stirs up zeal like a man of war. He raises the war cry, indeed he raises the battle shout; he prevails against his foes.

And I will lead the blind by a road they do not know; I will cause [them] to tread on paths they have not known. I will make darkness {in their presence} into light and rough places into level ground. These [are] the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.

They shall turn back; they shall be {greatly ashamed}, those who trust in an image, who say to a cast image, "You [are] our gods."

Who [is] blind but my servant or deaf like my messenger [whom] I sent? Who [is] blind like the one who is repaid or blind like the servant of Yahweh?

You see many [things], but you do not observe. [His] ears are open, but he does not hear.

But this [is] a people plundered and looted; all of them are trapped in holes, and they are kept hidden in houses of imprisonment. They have become like plunder, and there is no one who saves; [like] booty, and there is no one who says, "Restore!"

Who gave Jacob to a plunderer and Israel to those who plunder? [Was it] not Yahweh, against whom we have sinned? And they were not willing to walk in his ways, and they would not {obey} his law.

So he poured [the] wrath [of] his anger upon him and [the] strength of war. And it set him afire all around, but he did not understand; and it burned him, but he did not take [it] to heart.

But now thus says Yahweh, he who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: "You must not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called [you] by your name; {you are mine}.

For I [am] Yahweh, your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior. I give you Egypt [as] ransom, Cush and Seba in place of you.

Because you are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I myself love you, and I give people in place of you, and nations in place of your life.

You must not fear, for I [am] with you. I will bring your {offspring} from [the] east, and I will gather you from [the] west.

"You [are] my witnesses," {declares} Yahweh, "and my servant whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe {in} me and understand that I [am] he. No god was formed before {me}, and none shall be after me.

I myself declared and saved, and I {proclaimed}. And there was no {strange god} among you. And you [are] my witnesses," {declares} Yahweh, "and I [am] God.

Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel: "For your sake I will send [to] Babylon, and I will cause all of them to fall down [as] fugitives, and {the Chaldeans}, their rejoicing on the ships.

I [am] Yahweh, your holy one, the creator of Israel, your king."

who brings out chariot and horse, army and mighty one. Together they lie down; they cannot rise. They are extinguished, quenched like wick.

You have not brought me your sheep for a burnt offering nor honored me [with] your sacrifice. I have not made you serve with offerings, nor have I made you weary with frankincense.

You have not bought me spice reed with money or satisfied me [with] the fat of sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have made me weary with your iniquities.

I, I am the one who blots out your transgressions for my sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Your first ancestor sinned, and your {representatives} transgressed against me.

For I will pour out water on a thirsty [land] and streams on dry ground. I will pour my spirit out on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring.

And who [is] like me? Let him proclaim [it]! And let him declare it and set it in order for me {since I established an eternal people} and things that are to come, and let them tell them [the things] that are coming.

You must not tremble, and you must not be paralyzed with fear. Have I not made you hear from of old and declared [it], and you [are] my witnesses? Is there a god besides me? And there is no rock! I know none!"

All those who form an idol [are] nothing, and their delightful things do not profit. And their witnesses do not see or know, so they will be ashamed.

Look! all his companions shall be ashamed, and [the] artisans [are] human! Let all of them assemble; let them stand up. They shall tremble; they shall be ashamed together.

And he makes the remainder of it into a god! He bows down to his idol, and he bows in worship and prays to him, and he says, "Save me, for you [are] my god!"

They do not know, and they do not understand, for their eyes [are] besmeared {so that they cannot see}, their {minds} {so that they have no insight}.

"Remember these things, Jacob, and Israel, for you [are] my servant: I formed you; you [are] my servant; Israel, you will not be forgotten by me!

I have wiped your transgressions out like cloud and your sins like mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you!"

Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, and he who formed you in [the] womb: "I [am] Yahweh, who made everything, who stretched out [the] heavens alone, who spread out the earth--who [was] with me?--

who says to the deep, 'Dry up! And I will cause your rivers to dry up';

And I will give you [the] treasures of darkness and treasures of secret places so that you may know that I [am] Yahweh, the one who calls [you] by your name, the God of Israel,

for the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen one. And I call you by your name; I give you a name of honor, though you do not know me.

Woe [to the] one who strives with his {maker}, a potsherd among potsherds of earth! Does [the] clay say to the one who fashions it, 'What are you making?' and 'Your work has no hands'?

Woe [to the] one who says to a father, 'What you are begetting?' or to a woman, '[With] what are you in labor?'"

I myself have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his paths smooth. He himself shall build my city, and he shall set my exiles free, not for price or a gift," says Yahweh of hosts.

Surely you [are] a God who keeps yourself hidden, God of Israel, [the] savior.

All of them are ashamed and indeed humiliated; [the] craftsmen of idols go together in insult.

Declare and present [your case], also let them consult together! Who {made this known} from {former times}, declared it from {of old}? [Was it] not I, Yahweh? And there is no [other] god besides [me], a righteous God besides me, and no savior besides me.

'Only in Yahweh,' one shall say to me, '[are] righteousness and strength.' He shall come to him, and all those who were angry with him shall be ashamed.

Bel bows down; Nebo [is] stooping. Their idols are {on} animals and {on} cattle; your {cargo} is carried [as] a burden {on} weary [animals].

They stoop; they bow down together. They are not able to save [the] burden, but {they themselves go} in captivity.

Even to [your] old age I [am] he; even to [your] advanced age I myself will support [you]. I myself have made [you], and I myself will carry [you], and I myself will support [you], and I will save [you].

To whom will you liken me, and count as equal, and compare with me, as though we were alike?

Take [the] pair of mill stones and grind flour! Uncover your veil, strip off [your] skirt, uncover [your] thigh, pass through [the] rivers!

Your nakedness shall be exposed; indeed, your shame shall become visible. I will take vengeance and I will not {spare} a person.

Our redeemer, Yahweh of hosts [is] his name, the holy one of Israel.

I was angry with my people; I profaned my inheritance, and I gave them into your hand. You did not {give} them mercy; on [the] aged you made your yoke very heavy.

And you said, "I shall be an eternal mistress forever!" You did not set these [things] upon your heart; you did not remember its end.

And these two shall come to you [in] a moment, in one day: [the] loss of children and widowhood shall come on you {completely}, in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the power of your great enchantments.

And you felt secure in your wickedness; you said, "{No one} sees me." Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, "I [am], and besides me [there is] no one."

Stand, now, in your enchantments, and in your many sorceries with which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you may be able to benefit; perhaps you may {scare away}.

You struggle with your many consultations; let them stand, now, and save you-- those who see the stars, divide [the] {celestial sphere}, who inform by new moons-- from [those things] that are coming upon you.

Look! They are like stubble; [the] fire burns them completely. They cannot deliver {themselves} from [the] {power} of [the] flame; there is no coal {for warming oneself}, [no] fire before which to sit.

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, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and came out from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of Yahweh, and {invoke} the God of Israel, [but] not in truth and not in righteousness.

because {I know} that you [are] obstinate, and your neck an iron sinew, and your forehead bronze.

Now they are created, and not from {of old}, and before today, and you have not heard them so that you could not say, "Look! I knew them."

Neither have you heard, nor have you known, nor from {of old} has your ear been opened. For I knew you would deal treacherously, very treacherously, and you [are] called a rebel from [the] womb.

Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel: "I [am] Yahweh your God, {who teaches} you to profit, leads you in [the] way you should go.

O that you had listened attentively to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

And your offspring would have been like the sand, and the descendants of your {body} like its grains. It would not be cut off, and its name would not be destroyed from my presence."

And [when] he led them through the deserts, they were not thirsty; he made water flow from [the] rock for them, and he split [the] rock, and [the] water gushed out.

And he {made} my mouth like a sharp sword; he hid me in the shadow of his hand, and he {made} me like an sharpened arrow; he hid me in his quiver.

And he said to me, "You [are] my servant, Israel, in whom I will show my glory."

saying to the {prisoners}, "Come out!" to those who [are] in darkness, "Show yourselves!" they shall feed {along} [the] ways, and their pasturage [shall be] on all [the] barren heights.

They shall not be hungry or thirsty, and heat and sun shall not strike them, for he who takes pity on them will lead them, and he will guide them to springs of water.

Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of [my] hands; your walls [are] continually before me.

Your children hasten; your destroyers and those who laid you waste depart from you.

Lift your eyes up all around and see; all of them gather; they come to you. {As surely as I live}, {declares} Yahweh, surely you shall put on all of them like [an] ornament, and you shall bind them on like bride.

Surely your sites of ruins and desolate [places] and land of ruins, surely now you will be {too cramped for your} inhabitants, and those who engulfed you will be far away.

Yet the children {born when you were bereaved} will say in your {hearing}, "The place is [too] cramped for me; {make room} for me so that I can dwell."

Then you will say in your heart, "Who has borne me these?" And, "I [was] bereaved and barren, exiled and thrust away; so who raised these? Look at me! I was left alone; {where have these come from}?"

Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I will lift my hand up to [the] nations, and I will raise my signal to [the] peoples, and they shall bring your sons in [their] bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on [their] shoulders.

And kings shall be your {guardians}, and their queens your nurses. They shall bow down, {faces} [to the] ground, to you, and they will lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I [am] Yahweh; those who await me shall not be ashamed.

Can war-booty be taken from [the] mighty? or can a captive of a righteous [person] be rescued?

But thus says Yahweh: "Indeed a captive of [the] mighty shall be taken, and [the] war-booty [of] [the] tyrant shall be rescued, for I myself will dispute [with] your opponent, and I myself will save your children.

And I will feed your oppressors their [own] flesh, and they shall be drunk [with] their blood as [with] wine. Then all flesh shall know that I [am] Yahweh, your savior and redeemer, the strong [one] of Jacob."

Thus says Yahweh: "Where [is] this divorce document of your mother's divorce, [with] which I dismissed her? or to whom of my creditors did I sell you? Look! you were sold because of your sin, and your mother was dismissed because of your transgressions.

Why was there no man when I came, no one who answered when I called? {Do I lack the strength to save}? Or [is there] no power in me to deliver? Look! by my rebuke I dry up [the] sea; I {make} [the] rivers a desert; their fish stink because there is no water, and they die because of thirst.

The Lord Yahweh has given me [the] tongue of pupil, to know how to help [the] weary [with] a word. He awakens {morning by morning}, awakens an ear for me to listen as [do] the pupils.

The Lord Yahweh has opened an ear for me, and I, I was not rebellious. I did not turn backwards;

Look! All of you [are] kindlers of fire, who gird yourselves with flaming arrows. Walk in the light of your fire, and among [the] flaming arrows you have kindled! You shall have this from my hand: you shall lie down in a place of torment.

"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek Yahweh. Look to [the] rock [from which] you were hewn, and to [the] excavation of [the] pit [from which] you were quarried.

Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah; she brought you forth. For I called him {alone}, but I blessed him and made him numerous."

Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look to the earth beneath, for [the] heavens will be torn to pieces like smoke, and the earth will be worn out like garment, and those who inhabit her will die like gnats. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be broken to pieces.

Listen to me, you who know righteousness, people [who have] my teaching in their heart; you must not fear [the] reproach of men, or be terrified because of their abuse.

Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh! Awake as [in] days of long ago, [the] generations of a long time back! [Are] you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces, [the] one who pierced [the] sea-dragon?

Are you not the one who dried up [the] sea, [the] waters of [the] great deep, the one who {made} [the] depths of [the] sea a way for those who are redeemed to cross over?

"I, I [am] he who comforts you; who [are] you that you are afraid of man? He dies! And of [the] son of humankind? He is {sacrificed} [as] grass!

And you have forgotten Yahweh, your maker, who stretched out [the] heavens, and founded [the] earth. And you tremble continually, all day, because of the wrath of the oppressor when he {takes aim} to destroy. But where [is] the wrath of the oppressor?

For I [am] Yahweh, your God, who stirs up the sea, {so that} its waves roar; Yahweh of hosts [is] his name.