And this is to thee the sign from Jehovah, that Jehovah doth this thing that He hath spoken.

I -- I said in the cutting off of my days, I go in to the gates of Sheol, I have numbered the remnant of mine years.

I said, I do not see Jah -- Jah! In the land of the living, I do not behold man any more, With the inhabitants of the world.

My sojourning hath departed, And been removed from me as a shepherd's tent, I have drawn together, as a weaver, my life, By weakness it cutteth me off, From day unto night Thou dost end me.

I have set Him till morning as a lion, So doth He break all my bones, From day unto night Thou dost end me.

-- What do I say? seeing He said to me, And He Himself hath wrought, I go softly all my years for the bitterness of my soul.

Lord, by these do men live, And by all in them is the life of my spirit, And Thou savest me, make me also to live,

Lo, to peace He changed for me bitterness, And Thou hast delighted in my soul without corruption, For Thou hast cast behind Thy back all my sins.

For Sheol doth not confess Thee, Death doth not praise Thee, Those going down to the pit hope not for Thy truth.

Like myself to-day -- a father to sons Doth make known of Thy faithfulness, O Jehovah -- to save me: And my songs we sing all days of our lives In the house of Jehovah.'

And Hezekiah saith, 'What is the sign that I go up to the house of Jehovah!'

Lo, days are coming, and borne hath been all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have treasured up till this day, to Babylon; there is not left a thing, said Jehovah;

Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, That her warfare hath been completed, That accepted hath been her punishment, That she hath received from the hand of Jehovah Double for all her sins.

A voice is crying -- in a wilderness -- Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, Make straight in a desert a highway to our God.

A voice is saying, 'Call,' And he said, 'What do I call?' All flesh is grass, and all its goodliness is As a flower of the field:

On a high mountain get thee up, O Zion, Proclaiming tidings, Lift up with power thy voice, O Jerusalem, proclaiming tidings, Lift up, fear not, say to cities of Judah, 'Lo, your God.'

With whom consulted He, That he causeth Him to understand? And teacheth Him in the path of judgment, And teacheth Him knowledge? And the way of understanding causeth Him to know?

And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.

All the nations are as nothing before Him, Less than nothing and emptiness, They have been reckoned to Him.

And unto whom do ye liken God, And what likeness do ye compare to Him?

He who is poor by heave-offerings, A tree not rotten doth choose, A skilful artisan he seeketh for it, To establish a graven image -- not moved.

Do ye not know -- do ye not hear? Hath it not been declared from the first to you? Have ye not understood From the foundations of the earth?

He who is sitting on the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are as grasshoppers, He who is stretching out as a thin thing the heavens, And spreadeth them as a tent to dwell in.

And unto whom do ye liken Me, And am I equal? saith the Holy One.

Lift up on high your eyes, And see -- who hath prepared these? He who is bringing out by number their host, To all of them by name He calleth, By abundance of strength (And he is strong in power) not one is lacking.

He is giving power to the weary, And to those not strong He increaseth might.

But those expecting Jehovah pass to power, They raise up the pinion as eagles, They run and are not fatigued, They go on and do not faint!

Keep silent towards Me, O isles, And the peoples pass on to power, They come nigh, then they speak, 'Together -- to judgment we draw near.'

Who stirred up from the east a righteous one? He calleth him to His foot, He giveth before him nations, And kings He causeth him to rule, He giveth them as dust to his sword, As driven stubble to his bow.

Each his neighbour they help, And to his brother he saith, 'Be strong.'

Whom I have taken hold of, from the ends of the earth, And from its near places I have called thee, And I say to thee, My servant Thou art, I have chosen thee, and not rejected thee.

Lo, all those displeased with thee, They are ashamed and blush, They are as nothing, yea, perish Do the men who strive with thee.

For I, Jehovah thy God, Am strengthening thy right hand, He who is saying to thee, 'Fear not, I have helped thee.'

The poor and the needy are seeking water, And there is none, Their tongue with thirst hath failed, I, Jehovah do answer them, The God of Israel -- I forsake them not.

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.

Declare the things that are coming hereafter, And we know that ye are gods, Yea, ye may do good or do evil, And we look around and see it together.

First to Zion, Behold, behold them, And to Jerusalem one proclaiming tidings I give,

Lo, My servant, I take hold on him, My chosen one -- My soul hath accepted, I have put My Spirit upon him, Judgment to nations he bringeth forth.

He doth not cry, nor lift up, Nor cause his voice to be heard, in the street.

A bruised reed he breaketh not, And dim flax he quencheth not, To truth he bringeth forth judgment.

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 eyes of the blind, To bring forth from prison the bound one, From the house of restraint those sitting in darkness.

I am Jehovah, this is My name, And Mine honour to another I give not, Nor My praise to graven images.

The former things, lo, have come, And new things I am declaring, Before they spring up I cause you to hear.

Sing to Jehovah a new song, His praise from the end of the earth, Ye who are going down to the sea, and its fulness, Isles, and their inhabitants.

The wilderness and its cities do lift up the voice, The villages Kedar doth inhabit, Sing do the inhabitants of Sela, From the top of mountains they cry.

They ascribe to Jehovah honour, And His praise in the isles they declare.

And I have caused the blind to go, In a way they have not known, In paths they have not known I cause them to tread, I make a dark place before them become light, And unlevelled places become a plain, These are the things I have done to them, And I have not forsaken them.

Removed backward -- utterly ashamed, Are those trusting in a graven image, Those saying to a molten image, 'Ye are our gods.'

Ye deaf, hear; and ye blind, look to see.

Who among you giveth ear to this? Attendeth, and heareth afterwards.

Who hath given Jacob for a spoil, And Israel to the spoilers? Is it not Jehovah -- He against whom we sinned? Yea, they have not been willing in His ways to walk, Nor have they hearkened to His law.

And He poureth on him fury, His anger, and the strength of battle, And it setteth him on fire round about, And he hath not known, And it burneth against him, and he layeth it not to heart!

When thou passest into waters, I am with thee, And into floods, they do not overflow thee, When thou goest into fire, thou art not burnt, And a flame doth not burn against thee.

I am saying to the north, 'Give up,' And to the south, 'Restrain not.' Bring in My sons from afar, And My daughters from the end of the earth.

All the nations have been gathered together, And the peoples are assembled, Who among them declareth this, And former things causeth us to hear? They give their witnesses, And they are declared righteous, And they hear and say, 'Truth.'

Ye are My witnesses, an affirmation of Jehovah, And My servant whom I have chosen, So that ye know and give credence to Me, And understand that I am He, Before Me there was no God formed, And after Me there is none.

Even from the day I am He, And there is no deliverer from My hand, I work, and who doth turn it back?

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.

Lo, I am doing a new thing, now it springeth up, Do ye not know it? Yea, I put in a wilderness a way, In a desolate place -- floods.

Honour me doth the beast of the field, Dragons and daughters of an ostrich, For I have given in a wilderness waters, Floods in a desolate place, To give drink to My people -- My chosen.

Thou hast not brought in to Me, The lamb of thy burnt-offerings, And with thy sacrifices thou hast not honoured Me, I have not caused thee to serve with a present, Nor wearied thee with frankincense.

Thou hast not bought for Me with money sweet cane, And with the fat of thy sacrifices hast not filled Me, Only -- thou hast caused Me to serve with thy sins, Thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities.

I -- I am He who is blotting out Thy transgressions for Mine own sake, And thy sins I do not remember.

Cause me to remember -- we are judged together, Declare thou that thou mayest be justified.

And I pollute princes of the sanctuary, And I give Jacob to destruction, and Israel to revilings!

And who as I, doth call and declare it, And arrange it for Me, Since My placing the people of antiquity, And things that are coming, And those that do come, declare they to them?

Fear not, nor be afraid, Have I not from that time caused thee to hear, and declared? And ye are My witnesses, Is there a God besides Me? yea, there is none, A Rock I have not known.

Framers of a graven image are all of them emptiness, And their desirable things do not profit, And their own witnesses they are, They see not, nor know, that they may be ashamed.

Lo, all his companions are ashamed, As to artisans -- they are of men, All of them gather together, they stand up, They fear, they are ashamed together.

He hath wrought with wood, He hath stretched out a rule, He doth mark it out with a line, He maketh it with carving tools, And with a compass he marketh it out, And maketh it according to the form of a man, According to the beauty of a man, To remain in the house.

Cutting down to himself cedars, He taketh also a cypress, and an oak, And he strengtheneth it for himself Among the trees of a forest, He hath planted an ash, and the shower doth nourish it.

And it hath been for man to burn, And he taketh of them, and becometh warm, Yea, he kindleth it, and hath baked bread, Yea, he maketh a god, and boweth himself, He hath made it a graven image, And he falleth down to it.

And its remnant for a god he hath made -- For his graven image, He falleth down to it, and worshippeth, And prayeth unto it, and he saith, 'Deliver me, for my god thou art.'

They have not known, nor do they understand, For He hath daubed their eyes from seeing, Their heart from acting wisely.

And none doth turn it back unto his heart, Nor hath knowledge nor understanding to say, 'Half of it I have burned in the fire, Yea, also, I have baked bread over its coals, I roast flesh and I eat, And its remnant for an abomination I make, To the stock of a tree I fall down.'

Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, For My servant thou art, I formed thee, a servant to Me thou art, O Israel, thou dost not forget Me.

Who is saying to the deep, Be dry, and thy rivers I cause to dry up,

Who is saying of Cyrus, My shepherd, And all my delight He doth perfect, So as to say of Jerusalem, Thou art built, And of the temple, Thou art founded.

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:

'I go before thee, and crooked places make straight, Two-leaved doors of brass I shiver, And bars of iron I cut asunder,

And have given to thee treasures of darkness, Even treasures of secret places, So that thou knowest that I, Jehovah, Who am calling on thy name -- am the God of Israel.

Drop, ye heavens, from above, And clouds do cause righteousness to flow, Earth openeth, and they are fruitful, Salvation and righteousness spring up together, I, Jehovah, have prepared it.

Woe to him who is striving with his Former, (A potsherd with potsherds of the ground!) Doth clay say to its Framer, 'What dost thou?' And thy work, 'He hath no hands?'

Woe to him who is saying to a father, 'What dost thou beget?' Or to a wife, 'What dost thou bring forth?

Not in secret have I spoken, in a dark place of the earth, I have not said to the seed of Jacob, In vain seek ye Me, I am Jehovah, speaking righteousness, Declaring uprightness.

Turn to Me, and be saved, all ends of the earth, For I am God, and there is none else.

By Myself I have sworn, Gone out from my mouth in righteousness hath a word, And it turneth not back, That to Me, bow doth every knee, every tongue swear.

Bowed down hath Bel, stooping is Nebo, Their idols have been for the beast and for cattle, Your burdens are loaded, a burden to the weary.

They have stooped, they have bowed together, They have not been able to deliver the burden, And themselves into captivity have gone.

Even to old age I am He, and to grey hairs I carry, I made, and I bear, yea, I carry and deliver.

To whom do ye liken Me, and make equal? And compare Me, that we may be like?

They lift him up on the shoulder, They carry him, and cause him to rest in his place, And he standeth, from his place he moveth not, Yea, one crieth unto him, and he answereth not, From his adversity he saveth him not.

Remember this, and shew yourselves men, Turn it back, O transgressors, to the heart.

Declaring from the beginning the latter end, And from of old that which hath not been done, Saying, 'My counsel doth stand, And all My delight I do.'

Calling from the east a ravenous bird, From a far land the man of My counsel, Yea, I have spoken, yea, I bring it in, I have formed it, yea, I do it.

I have brought near My righteousness, It is not far off, And My salvation -- it doth not tarry, And I have given in Zion salvation, To Israel My glory!

Come down, and sit on the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, Sit on the earth, there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For no more do they cry to thee, 'O tender and delicate one.'

Sit silent, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For no more do they cry to thee, 'Mistress of kingdoms.'

And thou sayest, 'To the age I am mistress,' While thou hast not laid these things to thy heart, Thou hast not remembered the latter end of it.