The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.
“Drip down, O heavens, from above, And let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, And righteousness spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it.
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker-- An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons, And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
“It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained all their host.
“I have aroused him in righteousness And I will make all his ways smooth; He will build My city and will let My exiles go free, Without any payment or reward,” says the LORD of hosts.
Thus says the LORD, “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush And the Sabeans, men of stature, Will come over to you and will be yours; They will walk behind you, they will come over in chains And will bow down to you; They will make supplication to you: ‘Surely, God is with you, and there is none else, No other God.’”
They will be put to shame and even humiliated, all of them; The manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
Israel has been saved by the LORD With an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to shame or humiliated To all eternity.
For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the LORD, and there is none else.
“I have not spoken in secret, In some dark land; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a waste place’; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, Declaring things that are upright.
“Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save.
“Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.
“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.
“I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
“They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him, And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
“In the LORD all the offspring of Israel Will be justified and will glory.”
Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their images are consigned to the beasts and the cattle. The things that you carry are burdensome, A load for the weary beast.
They stooped over, they have bowed down together; They could not rescue the burden, But have themselves gone into captivity.
“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been borne by Me from birth And have been carried from the womb;
Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you.
“Those who lavish gold from the purse And weigh silver on the scale Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; They bow down, indeed they worship it.
“They lift it upon the shoulder and carry it; They set it in its place and it stands there. It does not move from its place. Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer; It cannot deliver him from his distress.
“Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.
“Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no longer be called tender and delicate.
“Take the millstones and grind meal. Remove your veil, strip off the skirt, Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
Our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel.
“Sit silently, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For you will no longer be called The queen of kingdoms.
“I was angry with My people, I profaned My heritage And gave them into your hand. You did not show mercy to them, On the aged you made your yoke very heavy.
“Yet you said, ‘I will be a queen forever.’ These things you did not consider Nor remember the outcome of them.
“But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day: Loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in full measure In spite of your many sorceries, In spite of the great power of your spells.
“You are wearied with your many counsels; Let now the astrologers, Those who prophesy by the stars, Those who predict by the new moons, Stand up and save you from what will come upon you.
“Behold, they have become like stubble, Fire burns them; They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame; There will be no coal to warm by Nor a fire to sit before!
“Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel And who came forth from the loins of Judah, Who swear by the name of the LORD And invoke the God of Israel, But not in truth nor in righteousness.
“For they call themselves after the holy city And lean on the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is His name.
“I declared the former things long ago And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
“For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off.
“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
“Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
“Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.
“Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon, And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
“Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go.
“If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
“Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”
Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, Send it out to the end of the earth; Say, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts. He made the water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock and the water gushed forth.
“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the LORD.
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
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