New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Zion’s Happy Future

1 The wilderness and the desert will be glad,

And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom;

Like the crocus

2 It will blossom profusely

And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

The majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They will see the glory of the Lord,

The majesty of our God.

3 Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.

4 Say to those with anxious heart,

“Take courage, fear not.

Behold, your God will comewithvengeance;

The recompense of God will come,

But He will save you.”

5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened

And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

6 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 wilderness

And streams in the Arabah.

7 The scorched land will become a pool

And the thirsty ground springs of water;

In the haunt of jackals, its resting place,

Grassbecomesreeds and rushes.

8 A highway will be there, a roadway,

And it will be called the Highway of Holiness.

The unclean will not travel on it,

But itwillbe for him who walksthatway,

And fools will not wanderon it.

9 No lion will be there,

Nor will any vicious beast go up on it;

These will not be found there.

But the redeemed will walkthere,

10 And the ransomed of the Lordwill return

And come with joyful shouting to Zion,

With everlasting joy upon their heads.

They will find gladness and joy,

And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/35-d1f34dca958aa6824a73e4e5c1f9bfe4.mp3?version_id=100—

Sennacherib Invades Judah

1 Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.

2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the fuller’s field.

3 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.

4 Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence that you have?

5 I say, ‘Your counsel and strength for the war are only empty words.’ Now on whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me?

6 Behold, you rely on the staff of this crushed reed,evenon Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

7 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lordour God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?

8 Now therefore, come make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

9 How then can you repulse one official of the least of my master’s servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

10 Have I now come up without the Lord’sapproval against this land to destroy it? The Lordsaid to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.'”‘”

11 Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we understandit;and do not speak with us in Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

12 But Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words,andnot to the men who sit on the wall,doomedto eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

13 Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

14 Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you;

15 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lordwill surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

16 Do not listen to Hezekiah,’ for thus says the king of Assyria, ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern,

17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

18 Bewarethat Hezekiah does not mislead you, saying, “The Lordwill deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And when have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the Lordwould deliver Jerusalem from my hand?'”

21 But they were silent and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.”

22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/36-75e1f76c4fe169ee5e9808fbbfaf788b.mp3?version_id=100—

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help

1 And when King Hezekiah heardit,he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord.

2 Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke and rejection; for children have come to birth, and there is no strength to deliver.

4 Perhaps the Lordyour God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lordyour God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.'”

5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”‘”

8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.

9 When he heardthemsay concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “He has come out to fight against you,” and when he heardithe sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

10 “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared?

12 Did the gods of those nations which my fathers have destroyed deliver them,evenGozan and Haran and Rezeph and the sons of Eden whowerein Telassar?

13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim,and ofHena and Ivvah?'”

Hezekiah’s Prayer in the Temple

14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lordand spread it out before the Lord.

15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lordsaying,

16 “O Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthronedabovethe cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

17 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sentthemto reproach the living God.

18 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands,

19 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.

20 Now, O Lordour God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.”

God Answers through Isaiah

21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sentwordto Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria,

22 this is the word that the Lordhas spoken against him:

“She has despised you and mocked you,

The virgin daughter of Zion;

She has shakenherhead behind you,

The daughter of Jerusalem!

23 “Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?

And against whom have you raisedyourvoice

And haughtily lifted up your eyes?

Against the Holy One of Israel!

24 “Through your servants you have reproached the Lord,

And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains,

To the remotest parts of Lebanon;

And I cut down its tall cedarsandits choice cypresses.

And I will go to its highest peak, its thickest forest.

25 ‘I dugwellsand drank waters,

And with the sole of my feet I dried up

All the rivers of Egypt.’

26 “Have you not heard?

Long ago I did it,

From ancient times I planned it.

Now I have brought it to pass,

That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

27 “Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength,

They were dismayed and put to shame;

They wereasthe vegetation of the field andasthe green herb,

Asgrass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.

28 “But I know your sitting down

And your going out and your coming in

And your raging against Me.

29 “Because of your raging against Me

And because your arrogance has come up to My ears,

Therefore I will put My hook in your nose

And My bridle in your lips,

And I will turn you back by the way which you came.

30 “Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

32 For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lordof hosts will perform this.”‘

33 “Therefore, thus says the Lordconcerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield, or throw up a siege ramp against it.

34 By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares the Lord.

35 ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.'”

Assyrians Destroyed

36 Then the angel of the Lordwent out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead.

37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returnedhomeand lived at Nineveh.

38 It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/37-2648eb731b259ddd35d38a4cd7140202.mp3?version_id=100—

Hezekiah Healed

1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'”

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,

3 and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Then the word of the Lordcame to Isaiah, saying,

5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.

6 I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”‘

7 “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lordwill do this thing that He has spoken:

8 Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the sun’sshadowwent back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

10 I said, “In the middle of my life

I am to enter the gates of Sheol;

I am to be deprived of the rest of my years.”

11 I said, “I will not see the Lord,

The Lordin the land of the living;

I will look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.

12 “Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;

As a weaver I rolled up my life.

He cuts me off from the loom;

From day until night You make an end of me.

13 “I composedmy souluntil morning.

Like a lion-so He breaks all my bones,

From day until night You make an end of me.

14 “Like a swallow,likea crane, so I twitter;

I moan like a dove;

My eyes look wistfully to the heights;

O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.

15 “What shall I say?

For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;

I will wander about all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

16 “O Lord, bythesethingsmenlive,

And in all these is the life of my spirit;

O restore me to health and let me live!

17 “Lo, formy ownwelfare I had great bitterness;

It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness,

For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

18 “For Sheol cannot thank You,

Death cannot praise You;

Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

19 “It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today;

A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.

20 “The Lordwill surely save me;

So we will play my songs on stringed instruments

Allthedays of our life at the house of the Lord.”

21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.”

22 Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/38-112c08d333ea0be6f06aee29b3411361.mp3?version_id=100—

Hezekiah Shows His Treasures

1 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.

2 Hezekiah was pleased, and showed themallhis treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and his whole armory and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.”

4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lordof hosts,

6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.

7 ‘Andsomeof your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'”

8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lordwhich you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “For there will be peace and truth in my days.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/39-a0bda92f6d4eff6a9b0ba36e36d1c177.mp3?version_id=100—

The Greatness of God

1 “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.

2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem;

And call out to her, that her warfare has ended,

That her iniquity has been removed,

That she has received of the Lord’shand

Double for all her sins.”

3 A voice is calling,

“Clear the way for the Lordin the wilderness;

Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

4 “Let every valley be lifted up,

And every mountain and hill be made low;

And let the rough ground become a plain,

And the rugged terrain a broad valley;

5 Then the glory of the Lordwill be revealed,

And all flesh will seeittogether;

For the mouth of the Lordhas spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Call out.”

Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”

All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades,

When the breath of the Lordblows upon it;

Surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades,

But the word of our God stands forever.

9 Get yourself up on a high mountain,

O Zion, bearer of good news,

Lift up your voice mightily,

O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;

Liftitup, do not fear.

Say to the cities of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

10 Behold, the Lord Godwill come with might,

With His arm ruling for Him.

Behold, His reward is with Him

And His recompense before Him.

11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,

In His arm He will gather the lambs

And carrythemin His bosom;

He will gently lead the nursingewes.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,

And marked off the heavens by the span,

And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,

And weighed the mountains in a balance

And the hills in a pair of scales?

13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,

Or as His counselor has informed Him?

14 With whom did He consult andwhogave Him understanding?

Andwhotaught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge

And informed Him of the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;

Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

16 Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,

Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

17 All the nations are as nothing before Him,

They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.

18 To whom then will you liken God?

Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

19 As forthe idol, a craftsman casts it,

A goldsmith plates it with gold,

And a silversmithfashionschains of silver.

20 He who is too impoverished forsuchan offering

Selects a tree that does not rot;

He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman

To prepare an idol that will not totter.

21 Do you not know? Have you not heard?

Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is He whosits above thecircle of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,

Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain

And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

23 Heit iswho reduces rulers to nothing,

Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

24 Scarcely have they been planted,

Scarcely have they been sown,

Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,

But He merely blows on them, and they wither,

And the storm carries them away like stubble.

25 “To whom then will you liken Me

That I would behisequal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high

And see who has created thesestars,

The One who leads forth their host by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the greatness of His might and the strength ofHispower,

Not oneof themis missing.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become weary or tired.

His understanding is inscrutable.

29 He gives strength to the weary,

And tohim wholacks might He increases power.

30 Though youths grow weary and tired,

And vigorous young men stumble badly,

31 Yet those who wait for the Lord

Will gain new strength;

They will mount upwithwings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/40-78fd959b9b8954fde2ca3fc44f9bdc6c.mp3?version_id=100—

Israel Encouraged

1 “Coastlands, listen to Me in silence,

And let the peoples gain new strength;

Let them come forward, then let them speak;

Let us come together for judgment.

2 “Who has aroused one from the east

Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet?

He delivers up nations before him

And subdues kings.

He makes them like dust with his sword,

As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.

3 “He pursues them, passing on in safety,

By a way he had not been traversing with his feet.

4 “Who has performed and accomplishedit,

Calling forth the generations from the beginning?

‘I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.'”

5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;

The ends of the earth tremble;

They have drawn near and have come.

6 Each one helps his neighbor

And says to his brother, “Be strong!”

7 So the craftsman encourages the smelter,

Andhe who smoothsmetalwith the hammerencourageshim who beats the anvil,

Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;

And he fastens it with nails,

So thatit will not totter.

8 “But you, Israel, My servant,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

Descendant of Abraham My friend,

9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,

And called from its remotest parts

And said to you, ‘You are My servant,

I have chosen you and not rejected you.

10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,

Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;

Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

12 “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,

Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

13 “For I am the Lordyour God, who upholds your right hand,

Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

14 “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;

I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

15 “Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;

You will thresh the mountains and pulverizethem,

And will make the hills like chaff.

16 “You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,

And the storm will scatter them;

But you will rejoice in the Lord,

You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17 “The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,

And their tongue is parched with thirst;

I, the Lord, will answer them Myself,

Asthe God of Israel I will not forsake them.

18 “I will open rivers on the bare heights

And springs in the midst of the valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water

And the dry land fountains of water.

19 “I will put the cedar in the wilderness,

The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree;

I will place the juniper in the desert

Together with the box tree and the cypress,

20 That they may see and recognize,

And consider and gain insight as well,

That the hand of the Lordhas done this,

And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21 “Present your case,” the Lordsays.

“Bring forward your strongarguments,”

The King of Jacob says.

22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;

As for the formerevents,declare what theywere,

That we may consider them and know their outcome.

Or announce to us what is coming;

23 Declare the things that are going to come afterward,

That we may know that you are gods;

Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.

24 Behold, you are of no account,

And your work amounts to nothing;

He who chooses you is an abomination.

25 “I have aroused one from the north, and he has come;

From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;

And he will come upon rulers asuponmortar,

Even as the potter treads clay.”

26 Who has declaredthisfrom the beginning, that we might know?

Or from former times, that we may say, “He isright!”?

Surely there was no one who declared,

Surely there was no one who proclaimed,

Surely there was no one who heard your words.

27 “FormerlyI saidto Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’

And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’

28 “But when I look, there is no one,

And there is no counselor among them

Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

29 “Behold, all of them arefalse;

Their works are worthless,

Their molten images are wind and emptiness.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/41-7bbb265174fdb1ed16d0c8ee5ea233c6.mp3?version_id=100—

God’s Promise concerning His Servant

1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;

My chosen onein whomMy soul delights.

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

2 “He will not cry out or raiseHis voice,

Nor make His voice heard in the street.

3 “A bruised reed He will not break

And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;

He will faithfully bring forth justice.

4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed

Until He has established justice in the earth;

And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it,

6 “I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness,

I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,

And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,

As a light to the nations,

7 To open blind eyes,

To bring out prisoners from the dungeon

And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

8 “I am the Lord, that is My name;

I will not give My glory to another,

Nor My praise to graven images.

9 “Behold, the former things have come to pass,

Now I declare new things;

Before they spring forth I proclaimthemto you.”

10 Sing to the Lorda new song,

SingHis praise from the end of the earth!

You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it.

You islands, and those who dwell on them.

11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift uptheir voices,

The settlements where Kedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud,

Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.

12 Let them give glory to the Lord

And declare His praise in the coastlands.

13 The Lordwill go forth like a warrior,

He will arouseHiszeal like a man of war.

He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry.

He will prevail against His enemies.

The Blindness of the People

14 “I have kept silent for a long time,

I have kept still and restrained Myself.

Nowlike a woman in labor I will groan,

I will both gasp and pant.

15 “I will lay waste the mountains and hills

And wither all their vegetation;

I will make the rivers into coastlands

And dry up the ponds.

16 “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,

In paths they do not know I will guide them.

I will make darkness into light before them

And rugged places into plains.

These are the things I will do,

And I will not leave them undone.”

17 They will be turned backandbe utterly put to shame,

Who trust in idols,

Who say to molten images,

“You are our gods.”

18 Hear, you deaf!

And look, you blind, that you may see.

19 Who is blind but My servant,

Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send?

Who is so blind as he that is at peacewith Me,

Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?

20 You have seen many things, but you do not observethem;

Yourears are open, but none hears.

21 The Lordwas pleased for His righteousness’ sake

To make the law great and glorious.

22 But this is a people plundered and despoiled;

All of them are trapped in caves,

Or are hidden away in prisons;

They have become a prey with none to deliverthem,

And a spoil, with none to say, “Givethemback!”

23 Who among you will give ear to this?

Who will give heed and listen hereafter?

24 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers?

Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,

And in whose ways they were not willing to walk,

And whose law they did not obey?

25 So He poured out on him the heat of His anger

And the fierceness of battle;

And it set him aflame all around,

Yet he did not recognizeit;

And it burned him, but he paid no attention.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/42-bc948a044cffbdb77e3b9c7703f37087.mp3?version_id=100—

Israel Redeemed

1 But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob,

And He who formed you, O Israel,

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are Mine!

2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,

Nor will the flame burn you.

3 “For I am the Lordyour God,

The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I have given Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and Seba in your place.

4 “Since you are precious in My sight,

Sinceyou are honored and I love you,

I will giveothermen in your place andotherpeoples in exchange for your life.

5 “Do not fear, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

And gather you from the west.

6 “I will say to the north, ‘Givethemup!’

And to the south, ‘Do not holdthemback.’

Bring My sons from afar

And My daughters from the ends of the earth,

7 Everyone who is called by My name,

And whom I have created for My glory,

Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

Israel Is God’s Witness

8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,

And the deaf, even though they have ears.

9 All the nations have gathered together

So that the peoples may be assembled.

Who among them can declare this

And proclaim to us the former things?

Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified,

Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”

10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“And My servant whom I have chosen,

So that you may know and believe Me

And understand that I am He.

Before Me there was no God formed,

And there will be none after Me.

11 “I, even I, am the Lord,

And there is no savior besides Me.

12 “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,

And there was no strangegodamong you;

So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“And I am God.

13 “Even from eternity I am He,

And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;

I act and who can reverse it?”

Babylon to Be Destroyed

14 Thus says the Lordyour Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And will bring them all down as fugitives, Even the Chaldeans, into the shipsin which they rejoice.

15 “I am the Lord, your Holy One,

The Creator of Israel, your King.”

16 Thus says the Lord,

Who makes a way through the sea

And a path through the mighty waters,

17 Who brings forth the chariot and the horse,

The army and the mighty man

(They will lie down togetherandnot rise again;

They have been quenchedandextinguished like a wick):

18 “Do not call to mind the former things,

Or ponder things of the past.

19 “Behold, I will do something new,

Now it will spring forth;

Will you not be aware of it?

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

Rivers in the desert.

20 “The beasts of the field will glorify Me,

The jackals and the ostriches,

Because I have given waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert,

To give drink to My chosen people.

21 “The people whom I formed for Myself

Will declare My praise.

The Shortcomings of Israel

22 “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;

But you have become weary of Me, O Israel.

23 “You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings,

Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

Nor wearied you with incense.

24 “You have bought Me not sweet cane with money,

Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;

Rather you have burdened Me with your sins,

You have wearied Me with your iniquities.

25 “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake,

And I will not remember your sins.

26 “Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together;

State yourcause,that you may be proved right.

27 “Your first forefather sinned,

And your spokesmen have transgressed against Me.

28 “So I will pollute the princes of the sanctuary,

And I will consign Jacob to the ban and Israel to revilement.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/43-cbd3012525d3ec76169560c9190414ab.mp3?version_id=100—

The Blessings of Israel

1 “But now listen, O Jacob, My servant,

And Israel, whom I have chosen:

2 Thus says the Lordwho made you

And formed you from the womb, who will help you,

‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant;

And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

3 ‘For I will pour out water on the thirstyland

And streams on the dry ground;

I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring

And My blessing on your descendants;

4 And they will spring up among the grass

Like poplars by streams of water.’

5 “This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;

And that one will call on the name of Jacob;

And another will writeonhis hand, ‘Belonging to the Lord,’

And will name Israel’s name with honor.

6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lordof hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.

7 ‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it;

Yes, let him recount it to Me in order,

From the time that I established the ancient nation.

And let them declare to them the things that are coming

And the events that are going to take place.

8 ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid;

Have I not long since announceditto you and declaredit?

And you are My witnesses.

Is there any God besides Me,

Or is there anyotherRock?

I know of none.'”

The Folly of Idolatry

9 Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.

10 Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit?

11 Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame.

12 The man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary.

13 Anothershapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house.

14 Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raisesitfor himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.

15 Then it becomessomethingfor a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it.

16 Half of it he burns in the fire; overthishalf he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.”

17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”

18 They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.

19 No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eatit.Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!”

20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

God Forgives and Redeems

21 “Remember these things, O Jacob,

And Israel, for you are My servant;

I have formed you, you are My servant,

O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.

22 “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud

And your sins like a heavy mist.

Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

23 Shout for joy, O heavens, for the Lordhas doneit!

Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth;

Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains,

O forest, and every tree in it;

For the Lordhas redeemed Jacob

And in Israel He shows forth His glory.

24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone,

25 Causing the omens of boasters to fail,

Making fools out of diviners,

Causing wise men to draw back

And turning their knowledge into foolishness,

26 Confirming the word of His servant

And performing the purpose of His messengers.

It is Iwho says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’

And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built.’

And I will raise up her ruinsagain.

27 “It is Iwho says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’

And I will make your rivers dry.

28 “It is Iwho says of Cyrus, ‘He isMy shepherd!

And he will perform all My desire.’

And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’

And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.'”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/44-2cac32b83764a26ca7d79a71958ccfb5.mp3?version_id=100—