When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs of {abounding} water.

Before mountains had been shaped, before hills, I was brought forth.

{when he established} the heavens, there I [was], {when he drew} a circle upon the face of the deep,

I was {beside} him, a master workman, and I was delighting day by day, rejoicing before him {always},

rejoicing in the world of his earth, and my delight [was] with the children of humankind.

"They struck me; I was not hurt. They beat me; I did not know [it]. When I will awake, I will continue; I will seek it again."

and behold, it was overgrown--all of it was covered [with] thorns, its surface with nettles, and {its stone wall} was broken down.

I, the Teacher, [was] king over Israel in Jerusalem.

I acquired male slaves and female slaves, as well as children [born in my] house. I also had livestock, cattle, and flocks more than anyone who [was] before me in Jerusalem.

Thus, {I accomplished far more} than anyone who [was] before me in Jerusalem--indeed, my wisdom stood by me.

I neither withheld anything from my eyes that they desired, nor did I deprive any pleasure from my heart. My heart rejoiced in all my toil, for this was my reward from all my toil.

What is--it already was, and what will be--it already is, for {God will do what he has done.}

I saw something else under the sun: instead of justice [there was] evil; instead of righteousness [there was] wickedness.

For he came out of the prison house to reign, {since he was born poor in his kingdom}.

Do not let your mouth lead your flesh into sin, and do not tell the messenger that it [was] a mistake. Why anger God at your words, so that he destroys the work of your hands?

That wealth was lost in a bad venture. Although he has borne a child, {he has nothing to leave to him}.

Whatever is--it was already determined, {what will be--it has already been decided}. As for man, he cannot argue against what is more powerful than him.

All this I have tested with wisdom. I said, "I will be wise!" but {it was beyond my grasp}.

[There was] a small city with few people in it. A great king came and besieged it, building great siege works against it.

Now, a poor wise man was found in it, and he delivered the city by his wisdom.

And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.

The Teacher was full of wisdom, and he taught the people with knowledge. He carefully considered many proverbs and carefully arranged them.

While the king [was] on his couch, my nard gave its fragrance.

As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so [is] my beloved among the young men. In his shade {I sat down with delight}, and his fruit [was] sweet to my palate.

He brought me to the house of the wine, and his intention [was] love toward me.

I [was] asleep but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved knocking! "Open to me, my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one! For my head is full of dew, {my hair drenched from the moist night air}."

Who [is] this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother {conceived you}; there she who was in labor gave birth to you.

I [was] a wall, and my breasts [were] like the towers, {so [my betrothed] viewed me with great delight}.

Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil!

What more [was there] to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why did I hope for [it] to yield grapes, and it yielded wild grapes?

Therefore {Yahweh's wrath was kindled} against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked, and their corpses were like refuse in [the] middle of [the] streets.

In the year of the death of Uzziah the king, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and raised throne, and the hem of his robe [was] filling the temple.

And the pivots of the thresholds shook from the sound of those who called, and the house was filled [with] smoke.

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, and in his hand [was] a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs.

This happened in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah. Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up [to] Jerusalem for warfare against it, but he was not able to fight against it.

When it was reported to the house of David, saying "Aram stands by Ephraim," his heart and the heart of his people shook like the shaking of the trees of [the] forest because of [the] wind.

Therefore the Lord did not rejoice over its young men, and he did not have compassion on its orphans and widows, for everyone [was] godless and an evildoer, and every mouth [was] speaking folly. In all of this his anger did not turn away, and still his hand [is] stretched out.

The land was burned through the wrath of Yahweh of hosts, and the people became like fire fuel. {People had no compassion toward each other}.

And my hand has found, like nest, the wealth of the peoples, and like the gathering of forsaken eggs, I myself have gathered all the earth. And [there] was no fluttering wing or open mouth or chirp."

For though your people Israel was like the sand of the sea, [only] a remnant of it will return. Annihilation [is] determined, overflowing [with] righteousness.

And Yahweh of hosts is going to swing a whip against him, as when Midian was defeated at the rock of Oreb; and his staff [will be] over the sea, and he will lift him up {as he did in Egypt}.

So there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people that remains, as there was for Israel {when} it went up from the land of Egypt.

In the year of the death of king Ahaz there was this oracle:

This [was] the word that Yahweh spoke to Moab {in the past}.

And it was revealed in my ears [by] Yahweh of hosts: "Surely this sin will not be atoned for you until you die!" says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

On that day, {declares} Yahweh of hosts, the peg that was driven will move away into a secure place, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that [was] on her will be cut off. For Yahweh has spoken.'"

And on [the] great waters [is] the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile [is] its produce, and she was [the] merchandise of [the] nations.

Be ashamed, Sidon, for [the] sea, the fortress of the sea said, saying, "I was not in labor, and I have not given birth, and I have not reared young men, brought up young women.

For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in his distress, a shelter from [the] rainstorm, a shade from [the] heat. For [the] breath of [the] ruthless [was] like a rainstorm against a wall,

[the] noise of foreigners like heat in a dry land. You subdued [the] heat with [the] shade of a cloud; [the] song of [the] ruthless was silenced.

Yahweh, in distress they have visited you; they poured out an {incantation}; your discipline [was] on them.

And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who {was in charge of the palace}, came out to him, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder.

And if you say to me, 'We trust in Yahweh our God,' [was it] not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed? And he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall bow down in the {presence} of this altar.'"

And now was it without Yahweh that I have come up against this land to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, "Go up against this land and destroy it!" '"

But Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your masters and you? [Was it] not for the people who sit on the wall, to eat their dung and drink their urine with you?"

But they were silent and did not answer him a word, for the command of the king was, "You must not answer him."

Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [was] over the {palace}, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder, came to Hezekiah [with] torn garments and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

And he sent Eliakim, who [was] {in charge of} the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the elders of the priests {covered} with sackcloth to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet.

And this happened: he [was] bowing in worship [in] the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him with the sword. And they themselves escaped [to] the land of Ararat, and Esar-haddon his son reigned as king in his place.

A writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he was sick and had recovered from his sickness:

I was the one who said, "I must go in the quiet of my days; I am summoned through the gates of Sheol [for] the rest of my years."

Look! Bitterness was bitter to me for peace. And you were the one who loved my life from [the] pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

And Hezekiah rejoiced over them and showed them his house of aromatic gum, the silver, gold, spices, good oil, all the house of his weapons, and all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing that Hezekiah had not shown them in his house or in all his dominion.

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.

Yahweh was willing for the sake of his righteousness; he showed [his] teaching to be great and proved [it] to be glorious.

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.

"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, 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?--

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.

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.

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

Just as many were appalled at you-- such [was] his appearance beyond human disfigurement, and his form beyond the sons of mankind--

[He was] despised and rejected [by] men, a man of suffering, and acquainted with sickness, and like {one from whom others hide their faces}, [he was] despised, and we did not hold him in high regard.

However, he was the one who lifted up our sicknesses, and he carried our pain, yet we ourselves assumed him stricken, struck down [by] God and afflicted.

But he [was] pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace [was] upon him, and by his wounds {we were healed}.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was brought like lamb to [the] slaughter, and like a sheep is dumb before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth.

He was taken by restraint of justice, and who concerned himself with his generation? For he was cut off from the land of [the] living; he [received a] blow because of the transgression of my people.

He made his grave with [the] wicked, and with [the] rich in his death, although he had done no violence, and [there was] no deceit in his mouth.

Yet Yahweh was pleased to crush him; he {made him sick}. If she places his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring. He will prolong days, and the will of Yahweh will succeed in his hand.

Therefore, I will divide to him [a portion] among the many, and with [the] strong ones he will divide bounty, {because} he poured his life out to death and was counted with [the] transgressors; and he was the one who bore the sin of many and will intercede for the transgressors.

I was angry because of his sin of gain, and I struck him; I hid and I was angry, but he walked apostate, in the ways of his heart.

and truth is missing, and he who turns aside from evil [is] plundered. And Yahweh saw, and it was displeasing in his eyes that there was no justice

And he saw that there was no man, and he was appalled that there was no one who intercedes, so his arm came to assist him, and his righteousness {was what} sustained him.

"I have trodden [the] winepress alone, and there was no man from [the] peoples with me. And I trod them in my anger, and I trampled them in my wrath, and spattered their juice on my garments, and stained all my clothing,

for [the] day of vengeance [was] in my heart, and the year of my blood-vengeance has come!

And I looked, but there was no helper, and I was appalled, but there was no one who sustains, so my arm came to assist me, and my wrath {was what} sustained me.

In all their distress, {there was no distress}, and the messenger of his {presence} saved them, in his love and compassion he himself redeemed them, and he lifted them up, and he supported them all [the] days of old.

Before she was in labor she gave birth; before labor pains came to her, she gave birth to a son.

Who has heard [anything] like this? Who has seen [anything] like these [things]? Can a land be born in one day? Or can a nation be born in a moment? [Yet] when she was in labor, Zion indeed gave birth [to] her children.

Israel [was] holy to Yahweh, the first fruit of his produce. All [those who] ate it were held guilty; disaster came to them," {declares} Yahweh.'"

For if you wash with natron, and you {use much soap}, your guilt [is] sticking as a stain {before} me," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

And I saw that {for this very reason, that} on account of apostate Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted [herself] also.

And it was because of the frivolity of her fornication that she defiled the land and committed adultery with the stone and with the tree.

I looked at the earth, and behold, it was wasteland and emptiness, and to the heavens, and [they were] without their light.

I looked and behold, there was no person, and all of the birds of the sky had fled.

I looked and behold, the fruitful land [was] a desert, and all of its cities were ruined before Yahweh, before the face of {his burning anger}.