⁸ Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,^(AF)
    who have ears but are deaf.^(AG)
9 All the nations gather together^(AH)
    and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold^(AI) this
    and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
    so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,^(AJ)” declares the Lord,
    “and my servant^(AK) whom I have chosen,
so that you may know^(AL) and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
Before me no god^(AM) was formed,
    nor will there be one after me.^(AN)
11 I, even I, am the Lord,^(AO)
    and apart from me there is no savior.^(AP)
12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
    I, and not some foreign god^(AQ) among you.
You are my witnesses,^(AR)” declares the Lord, “that I am God.
¹³     Yes, and from ancient days^(AS) I am he.^(AT)
No one can deliver out of my hand.
    When I act, who can reverse it?”^(AU)

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,^(BC)
17 who drew out^(BD) the chariots and horses,^(BE)
    the army and reinforcements together,^(BF)
and they lay^(BG) there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:^(BH)
18 “Forget the former things;^(BI)
    do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!^(BJ)
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness^(BK)
    and streams in the wasteland.^(BL)
20 The wild animals^(BM) honor me,
    the jackals^(BN) and the owls,
because I provide water^(BO) in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
²¹     the people I formed^(BP) for myself^(BQ)
    that they may proclaim my praise.^(BR)

²² “Yet you have not called on me, Jacob,
    you have not wearied^(BS) yourselves for^[c] me, Israel.^(BT)
23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,^(BU)
    nor honored^(BV) me with your sacrifices.^(BW)
I have not burdened^(BX) you with grain offerings
    nor wearied you with demands^(BY) for incense.^(BZ)
24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus^(CA) for me,
    or lavished on me the fat^(CB) of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins
    and wearied^(CC) me with your offenses.^(CD)

²⁵ “I, even I, am he who blots out
    your transgressions,^(CE) for my own sake,^(CF)
    and remembers your sins^(CG) no more.^(CH)
26 Review the past for me,
    let us argue the matter together;^(CI)
    state the case^(CJ) for your innocence.
²⁷ Your first father^(CK) sinned;
    those I sent to teach^(CL) you rebelled^(CM) against me.
²⁸ So I disgraced the dignitaries of your temple;
    I consigned Jacob to destruction^[d](CN)
    and Israel to scorn.^(CO)

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,^(E)
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive^(F) nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.^(G)

³ All you people of the world,^(H)
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner^(I) is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet^(J) sounds,
    you will hear it.
⁴ This is what the Lord says to me:
    “I will remain quiet^(K) and will look on from my dwelling place,^(L)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,^(M)
    like a cloud of dew^(N) in the heat of harvest.”
⁵ For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off^(O) the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.^(P)
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey^(Q)
    and to the wild animals;^(R)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,^(T)
    from a people feared^(U) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers^(V)—

See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud^(Z)
    and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
    and the hearts of the Egyptians melt^(AA) with fear.

² “I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian—
    brother will fight against brother,^(AB)
    neighbor against neighbor,
    city against city,
    kingdom against kingdom.^(AC)
3 The Egyptians will lose heart,^(AD)
    and I will bring their plans^(AE) to nothing;^(AF)
they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
    the mediums and the spiritists.^(AG)
4 I will hand the Egyptians over
    to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king^(AH) will rule over them,”
    declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

⁵ The waters of the river will dry up,^(AI)
    and the riverbed will be parched and dry.^(AJ)
6 The canals will stink;^(AK)
    the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.^(AL)
The reeds^(AM) and rushes will wither,^(AN)
7     also the plants^(AO) along the Nile,
    at the mouth of the river.
Every sown field^(AP) along the Nile
    will become parched, will blow away and be no more.^(AQ)
8 The fishermen^(AR) will groan and lament,
    all who cast hooks^(AS) into the Nile;
those who throw nets on the water
    will pine away.
⁹ Those who work with combed flax^(AT) will despair,
    the weavers of fine linen^(AU) will lose hope.
¹⁰ The workers in cloth will be dejected,
    and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

¹¹ The officials of Zoan^(AV) are nothing but fools;
    the wise counselors^(AW) of Pharaoh give senseless advice.^(AX)
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am one of the wise men,^(AY)
    a disciple of the ancient kings”?

¹² Where are your wise men^(AZ) now?
    Let them show you and make known
what the Lord Almighty
    has planned^(BA) against Egypt.
¹³ The officials of Zoan^(BB) have become fools,
    the leaders of Memphis^(BC) are deceived;
the cornerstones^(BD) of her peoples
    have led Egypt astray.
¹⁴ The Lord has poured into them
    a spirit of dizziness;^(BE)
they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,
    as a drunkard staggers^(BF) around in his vomit.
¹⁵ There is nothing Egypt can do—
    head or tail, palm branch or reed.^(BG)