earth, and the increase thereof; which giveth breath unto the people that are therein, and breath unto them that walk therein:

I the LORD have called thee with righteousness, and have taken thee by the hand, and have kept thee, and have given thee for a covenant among the people, for a light to the Gentiles, 7. That thou shouldest open the eyes of the blind, and bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness from the dungeon.

I the LORD, that is my name, and will not give my glory to another, nor my honour to idols.

Behold, the things which are to come I declare beforehand, and proclaim new things: before they arise I will let you hear them.

Sing unto the LORD a new song. His glory is at the end of the earth; they that sail in the sea, and that are in it, the isles, and they that dwell in them!

Shout aloud, ye deserts, and the cities thereof, and the villages where Kedar dwelleth. They that dwell in the rocks shall shout, And call from the high places of the mountains.

Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his fame in the isles.

The LORD shall go forth as a giant; he shall stir up zeal as a man of war; he shall shout and shout; he shall give way to his enemies.

I will hold my peace for a season, and be silent, and hold my peace. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I will cry out; I will lay them waste and devour them all.

I will lay waste the mountains and the hills, and wither all their grass; and I will make the rivers islands, and dry up the seas.

But the blind will I lead in the way which they know not; I will lead them in the paths which they know not: I will make the darkness light before them, and the cave a plain. These things will I do unto them, and will not forsake them.

But they that trust in idols, and say unto the molten image, Ye are our gods, shall return and
be put to shame.

Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.

Who is so blind as my servant, and who is so deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as the perfect, and so blind as the servant of the LORD?

They preach much, but they keep it not: they tell them enough, but they will not hear.

Nor is the LORD pleased with them for his righteousness’ sake, to make the law glorious and great,

They are a spoiled and plundered people; they are all entangled in dens, and hid in dungeons; they are become a spoil, and there is no deliverer, plundered, and there is none that saith, Restore them.

Who is there among you that heareth these things, and hearkeneth, and heareth that which cometh after?

Who delivered Jacob to plunder, and Israel to robbers? Hath not the LORD done it, against whom we have sinned? And they would not walk in his ways, neither obeyed they his law.

Therefore hath he poured out upon them the fury of his wrath, and a power of war; and hath set them on fire round about, but they know it not; and hath set them on fire, but they take it not to heart.
(Isaiah)
Chapter 43
The church has comfort in Christ and his suffering.

And now thus saith the LORD that created thee Jacob, and made thee Israel; Fear not, for I have redeemed thee: I have called thee by thy name: thou art mine.

For if thou pass through the waters, I will be with thee, and the rivers shall not drown thee: and if thou enter into the fire, thou shalt not burn, neither shall the flame kindle thee.

For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. I have given Egypt, Moor, and Seba in thy stead to make reconciliation.

Because thou art esteemed in mine eyes, thou also must be glorious, and I love thee: therefore will I give men in thy stead, and nations for thy soul.

Fear not therefore, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the morning, and gather thee from the evening;

And I will say toward the north, Give me; and toward the south, Resist not. Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the end of the earth,

All that are called by my name, even whom I have created for my glory, and prepared them, and made them.

Bring forth the blind people, which have eyes; and the deaf, which have ears.

Let all the heathen be gathered together, and let the nations be assembled. Which of them shall proclaim these things, and make us hear aforetime what shall come to pass? Let them present their witnesses, and let them prove, and it shall be heard, and they shall say, It is the truth.

But ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God made, neither shall there be after me.

I am the LORD, and beside me there is no saviour.

I have declared, and have helped, and have told you; and there is no strange god among you.
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD; so am I GOD.

Neither am I, till there was no day; neither is there any that can deliver out of mine hand. I work; who shall turn it away?

Thus saith the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sakes have I sent to Babylon, and have cast down all the bars, and have driven the wailing Chaldeans into the ships.

I am the LORD your Holy One, which have created Israel, your King.

Thus saith the LORD, that maketh way in the sea, and maketh way in strong waters; 17. Who bringeth forth chariots, and horses, and armies, and mighty men, and they lie down in a heap, and rise not up; and they go out as a wick goeth out:

Remember not the former things, and regard not the things which are past.

For, behold, I will make a new thing; now it shall grow up; that ye may know that I make a way in the wilderness, and rivers of water in the desert,

That the beast of the field may praise me, the dragon and the ostrich. For I will give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to water my people; my chosen ones.

This people have I prepared for myself; they shall tell my fame.

Not that thou hadst called me, O Jacob, or that thou hadst labored for me, O Israel.

For thou hast not brought me the sheep of thy burnt offering, neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices: I have not desired thy service in the meat offering, neither have I desired thy work in the incense;

Thou hast not bought me calamity for money; thou hast not filled me with the fatness of thy sacrifices. Yea, thou hast made me labour in thy sins, and hast given me trouble in thine iniquities.

I will blot out thy transgression for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Remind me, and let us be just one to another: tell me how thou wilt be just.

Thy forefathers have sinned, and thy teachers have dealt treacherously against me.

Therefore have I profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and made Jacob an outlaw, and Israel a scorn.
(Isaiah)
Chapter 44
God’s majesty is praised, idolatry rejected.

Hear now, O my servant Jacob, and Israel, whom I have chosen.

Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and prepared thee, and hath stood by thee from the womb: Fear not, O my servant Jacob, and thou that art upright, whom I have chosen.

For I will pour water upon the thirsty, and streams upon the drought; I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy seed,

That they may grow as grass, as the willows by the rivers of water.

This man shall say, I am the LORD’S; and this man shall be called by the name of Jacob: and this man shall ascribe himself with his hand unto the LORD, and shall be called by the name of Israel.

Thus saith the LORD King of Israel, and his Redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

And who is like unto me, that calleth, and proclaimeth, and bringeth it unto me, that setteth the nations from the world? Let them proclaim unto them the signs, and the things which are to come.

Fear not, neither be dismayed. Have I not at this time caused thee to hear and to proclaim it?
For ye are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? There is no refuge, for I know of none.

The idolaters are all vain, and their good things are of no profit. They are their witnesses, and see nothing, neither perceive; therefore they are put to shame.

Who are they that make a god, and cast idols, which are of no profit?

Behold, all their fellows are put to shame; for they are masters of men. Though they all come together, yet they shall fear, and be put to shame.

A man forgeth iron in the tongs, and worketh in the furnace, and maketh it ready with hammers, and worketh at it with all the strength of his arm: he also suffereth hunger, until he cannot; neither drinketh he water, until he be weary.

And the other carpeth wood, and measureth it with a cord, and marketh