The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, or the seeing or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth.

I was mute and silent [before my enemies],I refrained even from good,And my distress grew worse.

“I am mute, I do not open my mouth,Because it is You who has done it.

Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods (heavenly beings)?Do you judge fairly, O sons of men?

Open your mouth for the mute,For the rights of all who are unfortunate and defenseless;

Then the lame will leap like a deer,And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.For waters will break forth in the wildernessAnd streams in the desert.

Who [among the idols] has declared this from the beginning, so that we could know?Or from earlier times, so that we could say, “He is [unquestionably] right!”?In fact, there was no one who declared it,Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it;There was no one at all who heard you speak [for you pagan gods are speechless].

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,Yet He did not open His mouth [to complain or defend Himself];Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,And like a sheep that is silent before her shearers,So He did not open His mouth.

Israel’s watchmen are blind,They are all without knowledge.They are all mute dogs, they cannot bark;Panting, lying down, they love to slumber.

“Baldness [as a sign of mourning] will come on Gaza;Ashkelon will be cut off and ruined.O remnant of their valley,How long will you gash yourselves [as a sign of mourning]?

Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the survivor came. And He opened my mouth at the time he came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened [in readiness] and I was no longer mute.

“Then Daniel, whose [Babylonian] name was Belteshazzar, was appalled and speechless for a while [because he was deeply concerned about the destiny of the king], and his thoughts alarmed him. The king said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation frighten you.’ Belteshazzar answered, ‘My lord, may the dream be [meant] for those who hate you and its message for your enemies!

When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was speechless.

“What profit is the carved image when its maker has formed it?It is only a cast image, and a teacher of lies.For its maker trusts in his own creation [as his god]When he makes speechless idols.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who says to the wooden image, ‘Awake!’And to the speechless stone, ‘Arise!’And that is your teacher?Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver,And there is no breath at all inside it.