well.
5The coastlands look on in fear,
The ends of earth tremble.
They draw near and come;
6Each one helps the other,
Saying to his fellow, “Take courage!”
7The woodworker encourages the smith;
He who flattens with the hammer
[Encourages] him who pounds the anvil.
He says of the riveting, “It is good!”
And he fixes it with nails,
That it may not topple.
8But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
Seed of Abraham My friend—
9You whom I drew from the ends of the earth
And called from its far corners,
To whom I said: You are My servant;
I chose you, I have not rejected you—
10Fear not, for I am with you,
Be not frightened, for I am your God;
I strengthen you and I help you,
I uphold you with My victorious right hand.
11Shamed and chagrined shall be
All who contend with you;
They who strive with you
Shall become as naught and shall perish.
12You may seek, but shall not find
Those who struggle with you;
Less than nothing shall be
The men who battle against you.
13For I the LORD am your God,
Who grasped your right hand,
Who say to you: Have no fear;
I will be your help.
14Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O e-men of-e Israel:
I will help you
—declares the LORD—
I your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15I will make of you a threshing board,
A new thresher, with many spikes;
You shall thresh mountains to dust,
And make hills like chaff.
16You shall winnow them
And the wind shall carry them off;
The whirlwind shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the LORD,
And glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17The poor and the needy
Seek water,f and there is none;
Their tongue is parched with thirst.
I the LORD will respond to them.
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18I will open up streams on the bare hills
And fountains amid the valleys;
I will turn the desert into ponds,
The arid land into springs of water.
19I will plant cedars in the wilderness,
Acacias and myrtles and oleasters;
I will set cypresses in the desert,
Box trees and elms as well—
20That men may see and know,
Consider and comprehend
That the LORD’s hand has done this,
That the Holy One of Israel has wrought it.
21Submit your case, says the LORD;
Offer your pleas, says the King of Jacob.
22Let them approachg and tell us what will happen.
Tell us what has occurred,h
And we will take note of it;
Or announce to us what will occur,
That we may know the outcome.
23Foretell what is yet to happen,
That we may know that you are gods!
Do anything, good or bad,
That we may be awed and see.i
24Why, you are less than nothing,
Your effect is less than nullity;
One who chooses you is an abomination.
25I have roused him from the north, and he has come,
From the sunrise, one who invokes My name;
And he has trampled rulers like mud,
Like a potter treading clay.
26Who foretold this from the start, that we may note it;
From aforetime, that we might say, “He is right”?
Not one foretold, not one announced;
No one has heard your utterance!
27j-The things once predicted to Zion—
Behold, here they are!-j
And again I send a herald to Jerusalem.
28But I look and there is not a man;
Not one of them can predict
Or can respond when I question him.
29See, they are all nothingness,
Their works are nullity,
Their statues are naught and nil.
42 This is My servant, whom I uphold,
My chosen one, in whom I delight.
I have put My spirit upon him,
He shall teach the true way to the nations.
2He shall not cry out or shout aloud,
Or make his voice heard in the streets.
3a-He shall not break even a bruised reed,
Or snuff out even a dim wick.-a
He shall bring forth the true way.
4He shall not grow dim or be bruised
Till he has established the true way on earth;
And the coastlands shall await his teaching.
5Thus said God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and what it brings forth,
Who gave breath to the people upon it
And life to those who walk thereon:
6I the LORD, in My grace, have summoned you,
And I have grasped you by the hand.
I created you, and appointed you
A b-covenant people,-b c-a light of nations-c—
7d-Opening eyes deprived of light,-d
Rescuing prisoners from confinement,
From the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8I am the LORD, that is My name;
I will not yield My glory to another,
Nor My renown to idols.
9See, the things once predicted have come,
And now I foretell new things,
Announce to you ere they sprout up.
10Sing to the LORD a new song,
His praise from the ends of the earth—
e-You who sail the sea and you creatures in it,
You coastlands-e and their inhabitants!
11Let the desert and its towns cry aloud,
The villages where Kedar dwells;
Let Sela’s inhabitants shout,
Call out from the peaks of the mountains.
12Let them do honor to the LORD,
And tell His glory in the coastlands.
13The LORD goes forth like a warrior,
Like a fighter He whips up His rage.
He yells, He roars aloud,
He charges upon His enemies.
14“I have kept silent f-far too long,-f
Kept still and restrained Myself;
Now I will scream like a woman in labor,
I will pant and I will gasp.
15Hills and heights will I scorch,
Cause all their green to wither;
I will turn rivers into isles,g
And dry the marshes up.
16I will lead the blind
By a road they did not know,
And I will make them walk
By paths they never knew.
I will turn darkness before them to light,
Rough places into level ground.
These are the promises—
I will keep them without fail.
17Driven back and utterly shamed
Shall be those who trust in an image,
Those who say to idols,
‘You are our gods!’ ”
18Listen, you who are deaf;
You blind ones, look up and see!
19Who is so blind as My servant,
So deaf as the messenger I send?
Who is so blind as the chosenh one,
So blind as the servant of the LORD?
20Seeing many things, i-he gives-i no heed;
With ears open, he hears nothing.
21jThe LORD desires His [servant’s] vindication,
That he may magnify and glorify [His] Teaching.
22Yet it is a people plundered and despoiled:
All of them are trapped in holes,
Imprisoned in dungeons.
They are given over to plunder, with none to rescue them;
To despoilment, with none to say “Give back!”
23If only you would listen to this,
Attend and give heed from now on!
24Who was it gave Jacob over to despoilment
And Israel to plunderers?
Surely, the LORD against whom theyk sinned
In whose ways they would not walk
And whose Teaching they would not obey.
25So He poured out wrath upon them,
His anger and the fury of war.
It blazed upon them all about, but they heeded not;
It burned among them, but they gave it no thought.
43 But now thus said the LORD—
Who created you, O Jacob,
Who formed you, O Israel:
Fear not, for I will redeem you;
I have singled you out by name,
You are Mine.
2When you pass through water,
I will be with you;
Through streams,
They shall not overwhelm you.
When you walk through fire,
You shall not be scorched;
Through flame,
It shall not burn you.
3For I the LORD am your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as a ransom for you,
Nubia and Saba in exchange for you.
4Because you are precious to Me,
And honored, and I love you,
I give men in exchange for you
And peoples in your stead.
5Fear not, for I am with you:
I will bring your folk from the East,
Will gather you out of the West;
6I will say to the North, “Give back!”
And to the South, “Do not withhold!
Bring My sons from afar,
And My daughters from the end of the earth—
7All who are linked to My name,
Whom I have created,
Formed, and made for My glory—
8Setting free that people,
Blind though it has eyes
And deaf though it has ears.”
9All the nations assemble as one,
The peoples gather.
Who among them declared this,
Foretold to us the things that have happened?
Let them produce their witnesses and be vindicated,
That men, hearing them, may say, “It is true!”a
10My witnesses are you
—declares the LORD—
My servant, whom I have chosen.
To the end that youb may take thought,
And believe in Me,
And understand that I am He:
Before Me no god was formed,
And after Me none shall exist—
11None but me, the LORD;
Beside Me, none can grant triumph.
12I alone foretold the triumph
And I brought it to pass;
I announced it,
And no strange god was among you.
So you are My witnesses
—declares the LORD—
And I am God.
13Ever since day was, I am He;
None can deliver from My hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?
14Thus said the LORD,
Your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake c-I send to Babylon;
I will bring down all [her] bars,
And the Chaldeans shall raise their voice in lamentation.-c
15I am your Holy One, the LORD,
Your King, the Creator of Israel.
16Thus said the LORD,
Who made a road through the sea
And a path through mighty waters,
17Who destroyedd chariots and horses,
And all the mighty host—
They lay down to rise no more,
They were extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18Do not recall what happened of old,
Or ponder what happened of yore!
19I am about to do something new;
Even now it shall come to pass,
Suddenly you shall perceive it:
I will make a road through the wilderness
And riverse in the desert.
20The wild beasts shall honor Me,
Jackals and ostriches,
For I provide water in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My chosen people,
21The people I formed for Myself
That they might declare my praise.
22But you have not worshiped Me, O Jacob,
That you should be weary of Me, O Israel.
23You have not brought Me your sheep for burnt offerings,
Nor honored Me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with meal offerings,
Nor wearied you about frankincense.
24You have not bought Me fragrant reed with money,
Nor sated Me with the fat of your sacrifices.
Instead, you have burdened Me with your sins,
You have wearied Me with your iniquities.
25It is I, I who—for My own sakef—
Wipe your transgressions away
And remember your sins no more.
26Help me remember!
Let us join in argument,
Tell your version,
That you may be vindicated.
27Your earliest ancestor sinned,
And your spokesmen transgressed against Me.
28So I profaned g-the holy princes;-g
I abandoned Jacob to proscriptionh
And Israel to mockery.
44 But hear, now, O Jacob