The World English Bible (WEB)

Chapter 66

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44:2 This is what Yahweh who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you says: "Don"t be afraid, Jacob my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 44:3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your seed, and my blessing on your offspring: 44:4 and they will spring up among the gra.s.s, as willows by the watercourses. 44:5 One will say, "I am Yahweh"s;" and another will be called by the name of Jacob; and another will write with his hand "to Yahweh," and honor the name of Israel." 44:6 This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: "I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no G.o.d. 44:7 Who is like me? Who will call, and will declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people?

Let them declare the things that are coming, and that will happen. 44:8 Don"t fear, neither be afraid. Haven"t I declared it to you long ago, and shown it? You are my witnesses. Is there a G.o.d besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don"t know any other Rock." 44:9 Everyone who makes an engraved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit.

Their own witnesses don"t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed.

44:10 Who has fashioned a G.o.d, or molds an image that is profitable for nothing? 44:11 Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed; and the workmen are mere men. Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up. They will fear. They will be put to shame together. 44:12 The blacksmith takes an axe, works in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint. 44:13 The carpenter stretches out a line. He marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes. He marks it out with compa.s.ses, and shapes it like the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to reside in a house. 44:14 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir tree, and the rain nourishes it. 44:15 Then it will be for a man to burn; and he takes some of it, and warms himself. Yes, he burns it, and bakes bread. Yes, he makes a G.o.d, and worships it; he makes it an engraved image, and falls down to it. 44:16 He burns part of it in the fire. With part of it, he eats meat. He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. Yes, he warms himself, and says, "Aha! I am warm. I have seen the fire." 44:17 The rest of it he makes into a G.o.d, even his engraved image. He bows down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, "Deliver me; for you are my G.o.d!"

44:18 They don"t know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can"t see; and their hearts, that they can"t understand.

44:19 No one thinks, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, "I have burned part of it in the fire. Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten it. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?" 44:20 He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can"t deliver his soul, nor say, "Isn"t there a lie in my right hand?" 44:21 Remember these things, Jacob and Israel; for you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant. Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.

44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. 44:23 Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel. 44:24 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: "I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself; 44:25 who frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad; who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish; 44:26 who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, "She will be inhabited;" and of the cities of Judah, "They will be built," and I will raise up its waste places;" 44:27 who says to the deep, "Be dry," and "I will dry up your rivers;" 44:28 Who says of Cyrus, "He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,"

even saying of Jerusalem, "She will be built;" and of the temple, "Your foundation will be laid."" 45:1 Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and strip kings of their armor; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:

45:2 "I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of bra.s.s in pieces, and cut apart the bars of iron. 45:3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who call you by your name, even the G.o.d of Israel. 45:4 For Jacob my servant"s sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name. I have surnamed you, though you have not known me. 45:5 I am Yahweh, and there is none else.

Besides me, there is no G.o.d. I will strengthen you, though you have not known me; 45:6 that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I am Yahweh, and there is no one else. 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things. 45:8 Distil, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it. 45:9 Woe to him who strives with his Maker--a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, "What are you making?" or your work, "He has no hands?" 45:10 Woe to him who says to a father, "What have you become the father of?" or to a mother, "To what have you given birth?"" 45:11 Thus says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: "You ask me about the things that are to come, concerning my sons, and you command me concerning the work of my hands! 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man on it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and all their army have I commanded. 45:13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, says Yahweh of Armies. 45:14 Thus says Yahweh: "The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours. They shall go after you. In chains they shall come over; and they shall fall down to you. They shall make supplication to you: "Surely G.o.d is in you; and there is none else, there is no other G.o.d. 45:15 Most certainly you are a G.o.d who hid yourself, G.o.d of Israel, the Savior."" 45:16 They shall be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them; they shall go into confusion together who are makers of idols. 45:17 But Israel shall be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation: you shall not be disappointed nor confounded world without end. 45:18 For thus says Yahweh who created the heavens, the G.o.d who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn"t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited: I am Yahweh; and there is no one else. 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness; I didn"t say to the seed of Jacob, Seek you me in vain: I, Yahweh, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. 45:20 a.s.semble yourselves and come; draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations: they have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a G.o.d that can"t save. 45:21 Declare you, and bring it forth; yes, let them take counsel together: who has shown this from ancient time? who has declared it of old?

Haven"t I, Yahweh? and there is no G.o.d else besides me, a just G.o.d and a Savior; there is no one besides me. 45:22 Look to me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am G.o.d, and there is none else. 45:23 By myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 45:24 Only in Yahweh, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come; and all those who were incensed against him shall be disappointed. 45:25 In Yahweh shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. 46:1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the livestock: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary animal. 46:2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity. 46:3 Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne by me from their birth, that have been carried from the womb; 46:4 and even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry, and will deliver. 46:5 To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? 46:6 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a G.o.d. They fall down--yes, they worship. 46:7 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. 46:8 Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, you transgressors. 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am G.o.d, and there is none else; I am G.o.d, and there is none like me; 46:10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure; 46:11 calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country; yes, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pa.s.s; I have purposed, I will also do it. 46:12 Listen to me, you stout-hearted, who are far from righteousness: 46:13 I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not wait; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. 47:1 Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate. 47:2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pa.s.s through the rivers. 47:3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man. 47:4 Our Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel. 47:5 Sit you silent, and get you into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called The mistress of kingdoms. 47:6 I was angry with my people, I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you did show them no mercy; on the aged have you very heavily laid your yoke. 47:7 You said, I shall be mistress forever; so that you did not lay these things to your heart, neither did remember the latter end of it. 47:8 Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: 47:9 but these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come on you, in the mult.i.tude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments. 47:10 For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, None sees me; your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you, and you have said in your heart, I am, and there is none else besides me. 47:11 Therefore evil will come on you; you won"t know when it dawns: and mischief wil fall on you; you will not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come on you suddenly, which you don"t know.

47:12 Stand now with your enchantments, and with the mult.i.tude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth; if so be you shall be able to profit, if so be you may prevail. 47:13 You are wearied in the mult.i.tude of your counsels: let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from the things that shall come on you. 47:14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before.

47:15 Thus shall the things be to you in which you have labored: those who have trafficked with you from your youth shall wander everyone to his quarter; there shall be none to save you. 48:1 Hear you this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Yahweh, and make mention of the G.o.d of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness 48:2 (for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the G.o.d of Israel; Yahweh of Armies is his name): 48:3 I have declared the former things from of old; yes, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they happened. 48:4 Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bra.s.s; 48:5 therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pa.s.s I showed it to you; lest you should say, My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them. 48:6 You have heard it; see all this; and you, will you not declare it? I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known. 48:7 They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day you didn"t hear them; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them. 48:8 Yes, you didn"t hear; yes, you didn"t know; yes, from of old your ear was not opened: for I knew that you did deal very treacherously, and was called a transgressor from the womb.

48:9 For my name"s sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for you, that I not cut you off. 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

48:11 For my own sake, for my own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? and my glory I will not give to another. 48:12 Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 48:13 Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together. 48:14 a.s.semble yourselves, all you, and hear; who among them has declared these things? He whom Yahweh loves shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 48:15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 48:16 Come you near to me, hear you this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord Yahweh has sent me, and his Spirit.

48:17 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Yahweh your G.o.d, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go. 48:18 Oh that you had listened to my commandments!

then had your peace been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea: 48:19 your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me. 48:20 Go you forth from Babylon, flee you from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare you, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say you, Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob. 48:21 They didn"t thirst when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he split the rock also, and the waters gushed out. 48:22 There is no peace, says Yahweh, to the wicked. 49:1 Listen, islands, to me; and listen, you peoples, from far: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name: 49:2 and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me: and he has made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he kept me close: 49:3 and he said to me, You are my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

49:4 But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh, and my recompense with my G.o.d. 49:5 Now says Yahweh who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered to him (for I am honorable in the eyes of Yahweh, and my G.o.d is become my strength); 49:6 yes, he says, It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth. 49:7 Thus says Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you. 49:8 Thus says Yahweh, In an acceptable time have I answered you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you; and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage: 49:9 saying to those who are bound, Go forth; to those who are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture. 49:10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water he will guide them. 49:11 I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. 49:12 Behold, these shall come from far; and behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. 49:13 Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth; and break forth into singing, mountains: for Yahweh has comforted his people, and will have compa.s.sion on his afflicted. 49:14 But Zion said, Yahweh has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me. 49:15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compa.s.sion on the son of her womb? yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 49:16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. 49:17 Your children make haste; your destroyers and those who made you waste shall go forth from you. 49:18 Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you.

As I live, says Yahweh, you shall surely clothe you with them all as with an ornament, and gird yourself with them, like a bride. 49:19 For, as for your waste and your desolate places, and your land that has been destroyed, surely now you shall be too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up shall be far away. 49:20 The children of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, The place is too small for me; give place to me that I may dwell. 49:21 Then you will say in your heart, Who has conceived these for me, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they? 49:22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my banner to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. 49:23 Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed. 49:24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?

49:25 But thus says Yahweh, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.

49:26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 50:1 Thus says Yahweh, Where is the bill of your mother"s divorce, with which I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away. 50:2 Why, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can"t redeem? or have I no power to deliver?

Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst. 50:3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

50:4 The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.

50:5 The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward. 50:6 I gave my back to the strikers, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I didn"t hide my face from shame and spitting. 50:7 For the Lord Yahweh will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed. 50:8 He is near who justifies me; who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together: who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. 50:9 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me; who is he who shall condemn me? Behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up. 50:10 Who is among you who fears Yahweh, who obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in the name of Yahweh, and rely on his G.o.d. 50:11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk you in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that you have kindled. You shall have this of my hand; you shall lie down in sorrow. 51:1 Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Yahweh: look to the rock whence you were cut, and to the hold of the pit whence you were dug. 51:2 Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many. 51:3 For Yahweh has comforted Zion; he has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

51:4 Attend to me, my people; and give ear to me, my nation: for a law shall go forth from me, and I will establish my justice for a light of the peoples. 51:5 My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the peoples; the islands shall wait for me, and on my arm shall they trust. 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and those who dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. 51:7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; don"t you fear the reproach of men, neither be you dismayed at their insults. 51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation to all generations. 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn"t it you who did cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster? 51:10 Isn"t it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pa.s.s over? 51:11 The ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 51:12 I, even I, am he who comforts you: who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who shall be made as gra.s.s; 51:13 and have forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? 51:14 The captive exile shall speedily be freed; and he shall not die and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail. 51:15 For I am Yahweh your G.o.d, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar: Yahweh of Armies is his name. 51:16 I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, You are my people. 51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, Jerusalem, that have drunk at the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath; you have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it. 51:18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth; neither is there any who takes her by the hand among all the sons who she has brought up. 51:19 These two things have happened to you. Who will bemoan you? Desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort you?

51:20 Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of Yahweh, the rebuke of your G.o.d. 51:21 Therefore hear now this, you afflicted, and drunken, but now with wine: 51:22 Thus says your Lord Yahweh, and your G.o.d who pleads the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath; you shall no more drink it again: 51:23 and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, Bow down, that we may go over; and you have laid your back as the ground, and as the street, to those who go over. 52:1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion; put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into you the uncirc.u.mcised and the unclean.

52:2 Shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit on your throne, Jerusalem: loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion.

52:3 For thus says Yahweh, You were sold for nothing; and you shall be redeemed without money. 52:4 For thus says the Lord Yahweh, My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the a.s.syrian has oppressed them without cause. 52:5 Now therefore, what do I here, says Yahweh, seeing that my people is taken away for nothing? those who rule over them do howl, says Yahweh, and my name continually all the day is blasphemed. 52:6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he who does speak; behold, it is I.

52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your G.o.d reigns! 52:8 The voice of your watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when Yahweh returns to Zion. 52:9 Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 52:10 Yahweh has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our G.o.d. 52:11 Depart you, depart you, go you out from there, touch no unclean thing; go you out of the midst of her; cleanse yourselves, you who bear the vessels of Yahweh. 52:12 For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight: for Yahweh will go before you; and the G.o.d of Israel will be your rearward. 52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. 52:14 Like as many were astonished at you (his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men), 52:15 so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand. 53:1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? 53:2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form nor comeliness. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 53:3 He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn"t respect him. 53:4 Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by G.o.d, and afflicted. 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 53:7 He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn"t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn"t open his mouth. 53:8 He was taken away by oppression and judgment; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people? 53:9 They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 53:10 Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him.

He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand. 53:11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities. 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 54:1 Sing, barren, you who didn"t bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says Yahweh. 54:2 Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations; don"t spare: lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. 54:3 For you shall spread aboard on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 54:4 Don"t be afraid; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be confounded; for you shall not be disappointed: for you shall forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood you shall remember no more. 54:5 For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the G.o.d of the whole earth shall he be called. 54:6 For Yahweh has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, says your G.o.d. 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you.

54:8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting loving kindness will I have mercy on you, says Yahweh your Redeemer. 54:9 For this is as the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. 54:10 For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, says Yahweh who has mercy on you. 54:11 You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires. 54:12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, and your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. 54:13 All your children shall be taught of Yahweh; and great shall be the peace of your children. 54:14 In righteousness you shall be established: you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not be afraid; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. 54:15 Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because of you.

54:16 Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and brings forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 54:17 No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness which is of me, says Yahweh.

55:1 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come you to the waters, and he who has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 55:2 Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn"t satisfy? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 55:3 Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. 55:4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. 55:5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you don"t know; and a nation that didn"t know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your G.o.d, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you. 55:6 Seek you Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near: 55:7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our G.o.d, for he will abundantly pardon. 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Yahweh. 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 55:10 For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn"t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 55:11 so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do. 55:12 For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. 55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to Yahweh for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

56:1 Thus says Yahweh, Keep you justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 56:2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. 56:3 Neither let the foreigner, who has joined himself to Yahweh, speak, saying, Yahweh will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 56:4 For thus says Yahweh of the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant: 56:5 To them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 56:6 Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to him, and to love the name of Yahweh, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant; 56:7 even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. 56:8 The Lord Yahweh, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, Yet will I gather others to him, besides his own who are gathered. 56:9 All you animals of the field, come to devour, yes, all you animals in the forest. 56:10 His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they can"t bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. 56:11 Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can"t understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter. 56:12 Come you, say they, I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, a day great beyond measure.

57:1 The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. 57:2 He enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness. 57:3 But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the prost.i.tute.

57:4 Against whom do you sport yourselves? against whom make you a wide mouth, and put out the tongue? Aren"t you children of disobedience, a seed of falsehood, 57:5 you who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; who kill the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? 57:6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they are your lot; even to them have you poured a drink offering, you have offered an offering. Shall I be appeased for these things? 57:7 On a high and lofty mountain have you set your bed; there also you went up to offer sacrifice. 57:8 Behind the doors and the posts have you set up your memorial: for you have uncovered yourself to another than me, and are gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them: you loved their bed where you saw it. 57:9 You went to the king with oil, and did increase your perfumes, and did send your amba.s.sadors far off, and did debase yourself even to Sheol. 57:10 You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you didn"t say, It is in vain: you found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren"t faint. 57:11 Of whom have you been afraid and in fear, that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven"t I held my peace even of long time, and you don"t fear me? 57:12 I will declare your righteousness; and as for your works, they shall not profit you.

57:13 When you cry, let those who you have gathered deliver you; but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them all away: but he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain. 57:14 He will say, Cast up, cast up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people. 57:15 For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. 57:16 For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls who I have made. 57:17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I angry, and struck him; I hid my face and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart. 57:18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.

57:19 I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near, says Yahweh; and I will heal him. 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can"t rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt. 57:21 There is no peace, says my G.o.d, to the wicked.

58:1 Cry aloud, don"t spare, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins. 58:2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways: as a nation that did righteousness, and didn"t forsake the ordinance of their G.o.d, they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to G.o.d. 58:3 Why have we fasted, say they, and you don"t see? why have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find your own pleasure, and exact all your labors. 58:4 Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you don"t fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high. 58:5 Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh? 58:6 Isn"t this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? 58:7 Isn"t it to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? 58:8 Then your light shall break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh shall be your rear guard. 58:9 Then you shall call, and Yahweh will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly; 58:10 and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then your light shall rise in darkness, and your obscurity be as the noonday; 58:11 and Yahweh will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make strong your bones; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters don"t fail. 58:12 Those who shall be of you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. 58:13 If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: 58:14 then you shall delight yourself in Yahweh; and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.

59:1 Behold, Yahweh"s hand is not shortened, that it can"t save; neither his ear heavy, that it can"t hear: 59:2 but your iniquities have separated between you and your G.o.d, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness. 59:4 None sues in righteousness, and none pleads in truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 59:5 They hatch adders" eggs, and weave the spider"s web: he who eats of their eggs dies; and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper. 59:6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.

59:7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths. 59:8 The way of peace they don"t know; and there is no justice in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whoever goes therein does not know peace. 59:9 Therefore is justice far from us, neither does righteousness overtake us: we look for light, but, behold, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity. 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind; yes, we grope as those who have no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the twilight; among those who are l.u.s.ty we are as dead men. 59:11 We roar all like bears, and moan sore like doves: we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them: 59:13 transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning away from following our G.o.d, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 59:14 Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness can"t enter. 59:15 Yes, truth is lacking; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Yahweh saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. 59:16 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his own arm brought salvation to him; and his righteousness, it upheld him. 59:17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle. 59:18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense. 59:19 So shall they fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of Yahweh drives. 59:20 A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob, says Yahweh. 59:21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh: my Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed"s seed, says Yahweh, from henceforth and forever.

60:1 Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of Yahweh is risen on you. 60:2 For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you. 60:3 Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 60:4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms.

60:5 Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 60:6 The mult.i.tude of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of Yahweh. 60:7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on my altar; and I will glorify the house of my glory. 60:8 Who are these who fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? 60:9 Surely the islands shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your G.o.d, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. 60:10 Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you: for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor have I had mercy on you. 60:11 Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive. 60:12 For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted. 60:13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 60:14 The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending to you; and all those who despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you The city of Yahweh, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 60:15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no man pa.s.sed through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 60:16 You shall also suck the milk of the nations, and shall suck the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 60:17 For bra.s.s I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood bra.s.s, and for stones iron. I will also make your officers peace, and righteousness your ruler. 60:18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, desolation nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. 60:19 The sun shall be no more your light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light to you: but Yahweh will be to you an everlasting light, and your G.o.d your glory.

60:20 Your sun shall no more go down, neither shall your moon withdraw itself; for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. 60:21 Your people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. 60:22 The little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation; I, Yahweh, will hasten it in its time.

61:1 The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 61:2 to proclaim the year of Yahweh"s favor, and the day of vengeance of our G.o.d; to comfort all who mourn; 61:3 to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified. 61:4 They shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. 61:5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. 61:6 But you shall be named the priests of Yahweh; men will call you the ministers of our G.o.d: you will eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you will boast yourselves.

61:7 Instead of your shame you shall have double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be to them. 61:8 For I, Yahweh, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 61:9 Their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which Yahweh has blessed. 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh, my soul shall be joyful in my G.o.d; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 61:11 For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

62:1 For Zion"s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem"s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. 62:2 The nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of Yahweh shall name. 62:3 You shall also be a crown of beauty in the hand of Yahweh, and a royal diadem in the hand of your G.o.d. 62:4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall your land any more be termed Desolate: but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for Yahweh delights in you, and your land shall be married. 62:5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons shall marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your G.o.d will rejoice over you. 62:6 I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: you who call on Yahweh, take no rest, 62:7 and give him no rest, until he establishes, and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 62:8 Yahweh has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies; and foreigners shall not drink your new wine, for which you have labored: 62:9 but those who have garnered it shall eat it, and praise Yahweh; and those who have gathered it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.

62:10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare you the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a banner for the peoples. 62:11 Behold, Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say you to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

62:12 They shall call them The holy people, The redeemed of Yahweh: and you shall be called Sought out, A city not forsaken.

63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?

this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. 63:2 Why are you red in your clothing, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat? 63:3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yes, I trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing. 63:4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. 63:5 I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore my own arm brought salvation to me; and my wrath, it upheld me. 63:6 I trod down the peoples in my anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. 63:7 I will make mention of the loving kindnesses of Yahweh, and the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the mult.i.tude of his loving kindnesses. 63:8 For he said, Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely: so he was their Savior. 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old.

63:10 But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. 63:11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock?

where is he who put his holy Spirit in the midst of them? 63:12 who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name? 63:13 who led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that they didn"t stumble? 63:14 As the livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of Yahweh caused them to rest; so did you lead your people, to make yourself a glorious name. 63:15 Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory: where are your zeal and your mighty acts? the yearning of your heart and your compa.s.sion is restrained toward me. 63:16 For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn"t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us: you, Yahweh, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is your name. 63:17 O Yahweh, why do you make us to err from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants" sake, the tribes of your inheritance.

63:18 Your holy people possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. 63:19 We are become as they over whom you never bear rule, as those who were not called by your name.

64:1 Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence, 64:2 as when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the waters to boil; to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence! 64:3 When you did terrible things which we didn"t look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. 64:4 For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen a G.o.d besides you, who works for him who waits for him. 64:5 You meet him who rejoices and works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways: behold, you were angry, and we sinned: in them have we been of long time; and shall we be saved? 64:6 For we have all become as one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is as a polluted garment: and we all fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

64:7 There is none who calls on your name, who stirs up himself to take hold of you; for you have hid your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities. 64:8 But now, Yahweh, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you our potter; and we all are the work of your hand.

64:9 Don"t be furious, Yahweh, neither remember iniquity forever: see, look, we beg you, we are all your people. 64:10 Your holy cities are become a wilderness, Zion is become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. 64:11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, is burned with fire; and all our pleasant places are laid waste. 64:12 Will you refrain yourself for these things, Yahweh? will you hold your peace, and afflict us very sore?

65:1 I am inquired of by those who didn"t ask; I am found by those who didn"t seek me: I said, See me, see me, to a nation that was not called by my name. 65:2 I have spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts; 65:3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks; 65:4 who sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; who eat pig"s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; 65:5 who say, Stand by yourself, don"t come near to me, for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day. 65:6 Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yes, I will recompense into their bosom, 65:7 your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says Yahweh, who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills; therefore will I first measure their work into their bosom. 65:8 Thus says Yahweh, As the new wine is found in the cl.u.s.ter, and one says, Don"t destroy it, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants" sake, that I may not destroy them all.

65:9 I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains; and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. 65:10 Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me. 65:11 But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny; 65:12 I will destine you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn"t delight. 65:13 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be disappointed; 65:14 behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for anguish of spirit. 65:15 You shall leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord Yahweh will kill you; and he will call his servants by another name: 65:16 so that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the G.o.d of truth; and he who swears in the earth shall swear by the G.o.d of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes. 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 65:18 But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 65:19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying. 65:20 There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. 65:21 They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 65:22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 65:23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Yahweh, and their offspring with them. 65:24 It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent"s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says Yahweh.

66:1 Thus says Yahweh, heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will you build to me? and what place shall be my rest? 66:2 For all these things has my hand made, and so all these things came to be, says Yahweh: but to this man will I look, even to him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. 66:3 He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog"s neck; he who offers an offering, as he who offers pig"s blood; he who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations: 66:4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears on them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn"t delight.

66:5 Hear the word of Yahweh, you who tremble at his word: Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for my name"s sake, have said, Let Yahweh be glorified, that we may see your joy; but it is those who shall be disappointed. 66:6 A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Yahweh that renders recompense to his enemies. 66:7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a boy. 66:8 Who has heard such a thing? who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

66:9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? says Yahweh: shall I who cause to bring forth shut the womb? says your G.o.d.

66:10 Rejoice you with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her; 66:11 that you may suck and be satisfied with the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of her consolations; that you may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.

66:12 For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will extend peace to her like

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