Bible in 90 Days
19 I will plant in the wilderness
the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the olive tree.
I will set in the desert the cypress tree
and the pine together with the box tree—
20 so they may see and know,
consider and understand together,
that the hand of Adonai has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
Challenge to Idolaters
21 “Present your case,” says Adonai.
“Bring forth your reasons,”
says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring forth and tell us
what will happen.
The former things, what were they?
Tell us, that we may consider them
and know their outcome.
Or announce to us things to come.
23 Declare the things coming afterward,
so we may know that you are gods!
Indeed, do good or do evil,
so we may all see and be awestruck.
24 Behold, you are nothing,
and your work is null.
Whoever chooses you is loathsome.
25 “I have stirred up one from the north,
and he has come.
From the rising of the sun,
He will call upon My Name.
He will trample rulers as on mortar,
like a potter treading clay.”
26 Who told this from the beginning,
so that we may know?
Or from former times,
so we may say, “He is right”?
In fact, no one foretold it,
In fact, no one announced it.
In fact, no one heard Your words.
27 First it was to Zion:
“Behold, here they are!”
And to Jerusalem:
“I will give a herald of good news.”[a]
28 But when I look, there is no one.
There is no counselor among them.
When I ask them, they have no response.
29 Indeed, they are all a delusion.
Their works are null.
Their molten images are wind and waste.
First Servant Song: Justice
42 Behold My servant[b], whom I uphold.
My Chosen One,[c] in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Ruach on Him,[d]
He will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry out or raise His voice,
or make His voice heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed He will not break.
A smoldering wick He will not snuff out.
He will faithfully bring forth justice.[e]
4 He will not be disheartened or crushed
until He establishes justice on earth.
The islands will wait for His Torah.
5 Thus says God, Adonai,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it,
and Ruach to those who walk in it[f]—
6 “I, Adonai, called You in righteousness,
I will take hold of Your hand,
I will keep You and give You
as a covenant to the people,[g]
as a light to the nations,[h]
7 by opening blind eyes,
bringing prisoners out of the dungeon,
and those sitting in darkness out of the prison house.[i]
8 “I am Adonai—that is My Name!
My glory I will not give to another,
Or My praise to graven images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things.
Before they spring forth
I announce them to you.”
10 Sing to Adonai a new song,
His praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea with all its fullness,
islands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its cities exult—
the villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the dwellers of Sela sing for joy.
Let them shout for joy
from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to Adonai
and declare His praise in the islands.
13 Adonai goes out as a mighty one.
He stirs up His zeal like a man of war.
He will shout, yes, raise a war cry!
He will prevail over His enemies.
14 “I have held My peace a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now like a woman in labor I groan,
gasping and panting at once.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.
16 I will bring the blind by a way they do not know.
in paths they have not known, I will guide them.
I will turn darkness before them to light
and the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.
17 They will be turned back, utterly put to shame—
those trusting in idols,
who say to molten images, ‘You are our gods.’
18 Hear, you deaf!
Look, you blind, so you may see.
19 Who is blind, but My Servant?
Or deaf as My Messenger that I send?
Who is so blind as the one in covenant with Me,
blind as Adonai’s Servant?
20 You have seen many things,
but you do not pay attention.
Though ears are open, no one hears.”[j]
21 Adonai was pleased,
for the sake of His righteousness,
to make Torah great and glorious.
22 But this is a people robbed and looted.
all of them trapped in holes,
hidden away in prisons.
They have become a prey
with no one to deliver them,
and plunder,
with none to say, “Give them back!”
23 Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will listen and heed hereafter?
24 Who gave Jacob to the looter,
Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not Adonai?
Have we not sinned against Him?
In His ways they were unwilling to walk
and His Torah they did not obey.
25 So He poured out on him the fury of His anger,
and the fierceness of battle.
it blazed all around him, yet he did not understand it.
it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart.
Love for Israel
43 But now, thus says Adonai—
the One who created you, O Jacob,
the One who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, 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,
or through the rivers,
they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned,
nor will the flame burn you.
3 For I am Adonai your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Since you are precious in My eyes, honored,
because I love you,
I will give a man in exchange for you,
and other peoples 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, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring My sons from far
and My daughters from the ends of the earth.
7 Everyone who is called by My Name,
whom I created for My glory.
I formed him—yes, I made him!”
You Are My Witnesses
8 Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears.
9 All the nations are gathered together,
and the peoples are assembled.
Who among them can declare this,
and proclaim to us former things?
Let them present their witnesses
so they may be justified,
or let them hear and say, “It’s true.”
10 “You are My witnesses”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“and My Servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe Me,
and understand that I am He.
Before Me no God was formed,
and there will none after Me.
11 “I, I am Adonai—
and there is no savior beside Me.[k]
12 I alone declared, saved and proclaimed,
and not some foreign god among you.
So you are My witnesses”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“and I am God.
13 From eternity, I am He.
None can deliver from My hand.
I act, and who can reverse it?”
14 Thus says Adonai,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I will send to Babylon
and bring down the fleeing Chaldeans, all of them,
in the ships in which they exult.
15 I am Adonai, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.”
16 Thus says Adonai,
who makes a way in the sea
and a path in the mighty waters.
17 who drew out chariots and horses,
the army and the warrior
(they will lie down together, and not rise again;
they are extinguished—quenched like a wick):
18 “Do not remember former things,
nor consider things of the past.
19 Here I am, doing a new thing;
Now it is springing up—
do you not know about it?
I will surely make a way in the desert,
rivers in the wasteland.
20 The field animals honor Me
—the jackals and the ostriches—
because I give waters in the desert,
rivers in the wilderness,
to give drink to My chosen people,
21 the people I formed for Myself,
so they might declare My praise.
22 Yet you have not called on Me, Jacob,
for you have been weary of Me, Israel.
23 You have not brought Me sheep for your burnt offerings;
nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.
I did not compel you to serve offerings
nor wearied you with incense.
24 You have not spent money buying Me aromatic cane,
nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices.
Rather you burdened Me with your sins,
wearied Me with your iniquities.
25 I, I am the One who blots out
your transgressions for My own sake,
and will not remember your sins.
26 Remind me, when we argue our case together—
state your case, so you may be proved right.
27 Your first father sinned,
and your mediators rebelled against Me.
28 So I profaned the Sanctuary officials,
and gave Jacob over to destruction,
and Israel to scorn.
No Profit in Casting Idols
44 “But now listen, Jacob My servant,
Israel, whom I have chosen.”
2 Thus says Adonai who made you,
and formed you from the womb,
who will help you:
“Do not fear, Jacob My servant,
Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land
and streams on the dry ground.
I will pour My Spirit on your offspring,
and My blessing on your descendants.
4 They will spring up among the grass
like willows by flowing streams.
5 This one will say, ‘I am Adonai’s.’
That one will be called by the name Jacob.
Another will write on his hand, ‘Adonai’s’
and will take the name Israel.”
First and Last
6 Thus says Adonai,
Israel’s King and his Redeemer, Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“I am the first, and the last,
and there is no God beside Me.[l]
7 Who is like Me?
Let him proclaim and announce it!
Let him arrange it in order for Me—
as I established the ancient nation.
Let them declare to them
what is coming and future events.
8 Do not dread or be afraid.
Have I not told you and declared it long ago?
So you are My witnesses!
Is there any God beside Me?
Is there any other Rock?
I know of none.
Folly of Idols
9 Those who fashion idols are empty.
Their precious things do not profit.
Their witnesses do not see or know,
so they will be put to shame.
10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol
for no profit?
11 Behold, all his friends will be ashamed,
for the craftsmen are only human.
Let them all assemble.
Let them stand up.
Let them dread.
Let them be put to shame together.
12 The blacksmith takes a tool
and works with it over the coals,
fashioning it with hammers
and working it with his strong arm.
Yet when he is hungry, his strength fails.
When he drinks no water, he gets tired.
13 A carpenter stretches out a line;
he marks it with a pencil;
he shapes it with planes;
he marks it with a compass;
he shapes it like the figure of a man
—like the beauty of a man—
so that it may sit in a shrine.
14 He chops down cedars for himself,
or he takes a cypress or an oak.
He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine and rain nourishes it.
15 Then it is something for 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 an idol and bows before it.
16 He burns half of it in the fire.
With this half, he eats meat.
He roasts a roast and is satisfied.
He also warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.”
17 Yet with the rest he makes a god, his carved image.
He falls down before it and worships.
He even prays to it and says,
“Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18 They do not know or understand!
For He smeared over their eyes, so they cannot see,
and their hearts, so they cannot understand.
19 No one reflects in his heart,
with no knowledge or discernment
to say, “I burned half of it in the fire
and I also baked bread on its coals.
I roasted meat and ate—
and then I make the rest of it an abomination?
Should I bow before a block of wood?”
20 He is feeding on ashes.
A deceived heart has led him astray,
so he cannot deliver his soul, nor say,
“Isn’t what is in my right hand a fraud?”
21 Remember these things, Jacob,
and Israel, for you are My servant.
I formed you, you are My servant.
Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me!
22 I have blotted out your transgressions
like a thick cloud and your sins like a mist.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
23 Sing, O heavens, for Adonai has done it!
Shout, depths of the earth!
Break forth into singing, mountains,
forest, and every tree in it!
For Adonai has redeemed Jacob
and will be glorified through Israel.
24 Thus says Adonai,
your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb:
“I am Adonai, Maker of all things,
stretching out the heavens alone,
spreading the earth abroad by Myself,
25 causing the omens of boasters to fail,
making fools of diviners,
turning wise men backward
and making their knowledge foolish,
26 while confirming the word of His servant,
fulfilling the counsel of His messengers,
saying of Jerusalem, “She will be lived in”
and of the cities of Judah, “They will be built,
and I will raise up their ruins,”
27 while saying to the deep, “Be dry,
I will dry up your rivers,”
28 while saying of Cyrus, “He is My shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all My purpose”
while saying to Jerusalem, “You will be built”
and to the Temple, “Your foundation will be laid.”
Cyrus the Anointed
45 Thus says Adonai to His anointed, Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him,
to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
so that gates may not be shut.
2 I will go before you
and make crooked places straight.
I will shatter bronze doors
and cut through iron bars.
3 I will give you treasures of darkness
and hidden riches of secret places,
so you may know that I am Adonai,
the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
4 For the sake of Jacob My servant,
and Israel My chosen one,
I have also called you by name,
I have given you a title of honor,
though you have not known Me.
5 I am Adonai—there is no other.
Besides Me there is no God.
I will strengthen you,
though you have not known Me,
6 so they may know,
from the rising to the setting of the sun,
that there is no one besides Me.
I am Adonai—there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness.
I make shalom and create calamity.
I, Adonai, do all these things.
8 “Rain down, O heavens, from above,
and let the clouds pour down justice.
Let the earth open up,
let salvation sprout,
and righteousness spring up with it.
I, Adonai, have created it.”
9 Oy, to one who quarrels with his Maker,
like a pot among the pots of the earth!
Shall the clay say to the potter,
“What have you made?”
Or does your work say,
“It has no handles”?[m]
10 Oy, to him who says to his father,
“What have you begotten?”
Or to a woman,
“What have you born?”
11 Thus says Adonai,
the Holy One of Israel and its Maker,
“Ask Me about the things to come
upon My children.
Then you will commit to Me the work of My hands.
12 I made the earth and created man on it.
My hands stretched out the heavens
and I commanded all their host.
13 “I stirred Cyrus up in righteousness
and I will level all his roads.
He will build My city
and set My exiles free,
with no price or bribe,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
14 Thus says Adonai:
“Egypt’s toil, Ethiopia’s merchandise, and the tall Sabeans
will come over to you and be yours.
They will walk behind you in chains.
They will bow down to you, and pray,
saying, ‘Surely God is with you!’
There is none else—no other God!”
Mystery of Creation
15 Truly You are a God who hides Himself,
O God of Israel, Savior!
16 All of them will be ashamed, disgraced—
idol-makers go in dishonor together.
17 Israel has been saved by Adonai
with an everlasting salvation.
You will not be put to shame
or disgraced, for ever and ever.
18 For thus says Adonai—
He is God who fashioned the heavens,
who formed the earth and made it,
He established it
and did not create it desolate
but formed it to be inhabited—
“I am Adonai—there is no other!”
19 “I have not spoken in secret,
in a place of a land of darkness.
I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
‘Seek Me in desolation.’
I, Adonai, speak righteousness,
declaring uprightly.”
No Other God and Savior
20 “Assemble yourselves and come,
draw near together, fugitives of the nations!
Those who carry their wooden idols have no knowledge,
praying to a god who cannot save.
21 Declare and present your case,
Indeed, let them consult together.
Who foretold this from ancient time?
Who has declared it of old?
Is it not I, Adonai?
There is no other God beside Me
—a righteous God and a Savior—
there is none besides Me![n]
22 Turn to Me, and be saved,
all the ends of the earth.
For I am God—there is no other.
23 By Myself I have sworn—
the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness,
and is irrevocable:
that to Me every knee will bow,
every tongue will swear.[o]
24 They will say of Me,
‘Only in Adonai is righteousness and strength.’
All who have raged against Him
will come to Him and be put to shame.
25 In Adonai all the seed of Israel
will be justified and give praise.”
Idols a Weary Burden
46 Bel bows down; Nebo stoops over.
Their idols are for beasts and cattle.
The things you carry are borne
as burdens on weary beasts.
2 They stoop, they bow down together,
they cannot save the burden,
but themselves go into captivity.
3 “Listen to Me, house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
borne by Me from birth,
carried from the womb.
4 Even to your old age I will be the same,
until you are gray I will carry you.
I have done it; I will bear you;
I will carry you; I will deliver you.
5 To whom will you liken Me,
or make Me equal or compare Me,
that we should be alike?
6 They lavish gold from a purse
and weigh out silver on the scales.
They hire a goldsmith so he makes a god.
They bow down. Yes, they worship it.
7 They lift it upon a shoulder and carry it.
They set in its place and there it stands.
It does not budge from its place.
Even if one cry to it, it cannot answer,
nor save anyone from his trouble.”
Purpose for Cyrus
8 “Remember this, and be assured.
Recall it to mind, you transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old:
For I am God—there is no other.
I am God, and there is none like Me—
10 declaring the end from the beginning,
from ancient time, what is yet to come,
saying, “My purpose will stand,
and I will accomplish all that I please.”
11 From the east I am calling a bird of prey,
a man for My purpose from a far country.
Truly I have spoken; I will bring it to pass;
I have planned it; surely I will do it.
12 Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted,
who are far from righteousness:
13 I bring My justice near, it is not far off.
So My salvation will not delay.
I put salvation in Zion,
My glory in Israel.”
Catastrophe of Babylon
47 Come down and sit in the dust,
virgin daughter of Babylon.
Sit on the ground without a throne,
daughter of the Chaldeans.
For you will no more be called
tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones and grind flour.
Remove your veil, strip off the skirt,
uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
3 Your nakedness will be uncovered,
and your shame will be exposed.
I will take vengeance,
and will spare no one.
4 Our Redeemer, Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name,
is the Holy One of Israel.
5 Sit in silence, go into darkness,
daughter of the Chaldeans.
For you will no more be called
the mistress-queen of kingdoms.
6 I was angry with My people.
I profaned My heritage.
I gave them into your hand,
but you showed them no mercy.
You made your yoke very heavy on the aged.
7 You said, “Forever,
I will be the eternal mistress-queen!”
You did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.
8 Now then, hear this, voluptuous one,
dwelling securely, saying in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me!
I will not sit as a widow,
or know the loss of children,”
9 These two things will come upon you
in a moment, in one day—
loss of children and widowhood—
they will come upon you in full measure
in spite of your many sorceries
and your many spells.
10 You felt secure in your wickedness,
You said, “No one sees me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge
led you astray,
so you have said in your heart,
“I am—there is no one else beside me!”
11 But calamity will come upon you.
You won’t know how to charm it away.
Disaster will fall on you,
for which you cannot atone.
Catastrophe you cannot foresee
will suddenly come upon you.
12 Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
which you have toiled over since your youth.
Perhaps you will succeed?
Perhaps you will cause terror?
13 You are weary of your consultations.
So many!
So let the astrologers, star-gazers, predicting by new moons,
stand up and save you from what will come upon you.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble.
Fire will consume them.
They cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame!
It is not a coal for warming by
or a fire to sit before!
15 So much have they become to you,
with whom you have toiled,
trafficking with you from your youth,
each wandering about his own way.
No one will save you!
Who Foretold These Things?
48 Hear this, house of Jacob,
who are called by the Name of Israel,
who came from the wellspring of Judah,
who swear by the Name of Adonai
and confess the God of Israel—
but not in truth or righteousness.
2 For they call themselves by the holy city,
and lean on the God of Israel,
Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name.
3 “I foretold the former things long ago.
They went forth from My mouth,
and I caused them to be heard.
Suddenly I acted, so they came about.
4 For I know that you are obstinate,
and your neck is iron sinew,
and your forehead bronze.
5 So I foretold it to you long ago.
before it came about I made you hear,
lest you should say, ‘My idol did them,
my carved image, yes,
my molded image commanded them.’
6 You have heard. See all of it.
So will you not admit it?
I proclaim to you new things from now on—
hidden things that you have not known.
7 They are created now, not long ago.
Before today you had not heard them.
So you will not say, ‘Sure, I knew them.’
8 You have not heard; you never knew;
even from long ago your ear has not been open.
For I knew that you are treacherous,
and from birth were called a rebel.
9 For My Name’s sake I defer My anger,
for My praise I will restrain it for you—
otherwise I would cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you,
though not as silver.
I tested you in the furnace of affliction.[p]
11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I act.
For how should I be profaned?
I will not give My glory to another.
12 Listen to Me, Jacob,
Israel whom I called:
I am He;
I am the first; I am also the last.[q]
13 Surely My hand founded the earth,
My right hand spread out the heavens.
When I call to them, they stand together.
14 Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them foretold these things?
Adonai loves him.
He will do His will against Babylon—
His arm against the Chaldeans.
15 I, I have spoken, yes I called him.
I will bring him, so his ways will succeed.
16 Draw near to Me, hear this:
Since the beginning, I have not spoken in secret.
From the time it existed, I was there.
So now Adonai Elohim has sent Me,
and His Ruach.”[r]
17 Thus says Adonai, your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:
“I am Adonai your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had listened to My commandments!
then your peace would be like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Your seed would have been like sand,
and your offspring like its grains.
Their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before Me.”
20 “Get out of Babylon,
flee from Chaldea!
With a shout of joy,
proclaim this,
send it out to the end of the earth, say:
‘Adonai has redeemed His servant Jacob!
21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He caused the water to flow out of the rock for them.
He split the rock also,
and the waters gushed out.’”
22 “There is no shalom,” says Adonai,
“for the wicked.”
Second Servant Song: Light of the Nations
49 Listen, to Me, islands!
Pay attention, peoples far away.
Adonai called Me from the womb,
from My mother’s belly He named Me.
2 He made My mouth like a sharp sword.
In the shadow of His hand He hid Me.
He made Me a polished arrow,
He has hidden Me in His quiver.
3 He said to Me, “You are My servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and futility.
Yet surely the justice due to me is with Adonai,
and my reward with my God.”
5 So now says Adonai,
who formed Me from the womb to be His servant,
to bring Jacob back to Him,
to gather Israel back to Him.
For I am honored in the eyes of Adonai
and My God has become my strength.
6 So He says,
“It is too trifling a thing that You should be My servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and restore the preserved ones of Israel.
So I will give You as a light for the nations,
that You should be My salvation to the end of the earth.”[s]
7 Thus says Adonai,
the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
to the One despised,[t] to the One the nation abhors,
to a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and arise,
princes will also bow down,
because of Adonai who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”
Compassion on Zion’s Children
8 Thus says Adonai:
“In a time of favor I will answer you.
In a day of salvation I will help you.
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
to restore the land,
to make them possess its desolate inheritances,
9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out!’
to those in darkness, ‘Be shown!’
Along the roads they will graze—
their pasture will be on all the barren heights.
10 They will not hunger or thirst,
nor scorching wind or sun strike them,
for their compassionate One will lead them,
and will guide them by springs of water.
11 I will make all My mountains a road,
and My highways will be raised up.
12 “Behold, these shall come from afar.
behold, these from the north and from the west,
and from the land of Sinim.
13 Shout for joy, heavens!
Rejoice, earth!
Break forth into ringing shouts, O mountains!
For Adonai has comforted His people
and has compassion on His afflicted.”
14 But Zion said: “Adonai has forsaken me,
Adonai has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing baby
or lack compassion for a child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
I will not forget you.
16 Behold, I have engraved you
on the palms of My hands.
Your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your children will come quickly.
Your destroyers and devastators will go away from you.
18 Lift up your eyes around and see:
all of them will gather and come to you.”
“As I live”
—it is Adonai’s declaration—
“you will wear them all as jewelry
and bind them on like a bride.”
19 For your waste and desolate places
and your destroyed land
will now be surely too small for the inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears,
“The place is too cramped for me!
Make room for me to settle in.”
21 Then you will say in your heart,
“Who has borne these for me?
Wasn’t I bereaved of my children—
barren, an exile and wandering?
So who has raised these?
Behold, I was left alone—
these, where were they?”
22 Thus says Adonai Elohim:
“Look, I will lift My hand to the nations,
and raise My banner to the peoples!
They will bring your sons on their chest,
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23 Kings will be your guardians,
their princesses your nurses.
They will bow down to you with their face to the ground,
and lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am Adonai—
those hoping in Me will not be ashamed.”
24 Can plunder be taken from the mighty,
or captives of the righteous freed?
25 For thus says Adonai:
“Yes, captives of the mighty will be taken
and the prey of the tyrant will be freed.
For I will oppose your adversary.
I will save your children.
26 I will feed your oppressors their flesh.
They will be drunk with their blood as with sweet wine.
Then all flesh will know
that I, Adonai, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
50 Thus says Adonai:
“Where is the divorce certificate,
by which I sent your mother away?
Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you?
See, you were sold for your iniquities,
and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 Why was no one there when I came?
Why was there no one to answer when I called?
Is My hand too short to redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, I dry up the sea at My rebuke,
I make rivers a wilderness—
their fish stink for lack of water
and die of thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness
and make sackcloth their covering.”
Third Servant Song: Face Like Flint
4 Adonai Elohim has given Me the tongue of the learned,[u]
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.
He awakens Me morning by morning.
He awakens My ear to give heed as a disciple.
5 Adonai Elohim has opened My ear,
and I was not rebellious,
nor did I turn back.
6 I gave My back to those who strike,
and My cheeks to those pulling out My beard;
I did not hide My face
from humiliation and spitting.[v]
7 For Adonai Elohim will help Me.
Therefore I have not been disgraced.
Therefore I set My face like flint,
and I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 The One who vindicates Me is near.
Who will accuse Me?
Let us stand up to each other.
Who is My adversary?
Let him confront Me.
9 See, Adonai Elohim will help Me.
Who is he who would condemn Me?
See, they all wear out like a garment.
A moth will eat them up.
10 Who among you fears Adonai?
Who hears the voice of His servant?
Who walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust in the Name of Adonai
and lean on his God.
11 “Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
encircling yourselves with firebrands.
Walk in the light of your fire
and among the brands you have lit.
This you will have from My hand:
you will lie down in torment.”
Comfort Zion With Justice
51 “Listen to Me, you who pursue justice,
you who seek Adonai.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you.
For when I called him, he was but one,
then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
3 For Adonai will comfort Zion.
He will comfort all her waste places.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of Adonai.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and a sound of melody.
4 “Pay attention to Me, My people,
give ear to Me, My nation.
For Torah will go out from Me,
My justice as a light to the peoples.[w]
5 My righteousness is near,
My salvation has gone out,
and My arms will judge the nations.
The coastlands will wait for Me—
for My arm they will wait expectantly.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath.
For the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants will die like gnats,
but My salvation will be forever,
and My righteousness never wane.
7 Listen to Me, you who know justice,
a people with My Torah in their heart:
Do not fear the taunt of men,
nor be dismayed at their insults.
8 For the moth will eat them like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness will be forever
and My salvation for all generations.”
9 Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of Adonai,
awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago.
Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?
10 Was it not You who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a path
for the redeemed to pass over?
11 Now the ransomed of Adonai will return,
and come to Zion with singing.
Everlasting joy will be upon their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
12 “I, I am the One who comforts you.
Who are you that you should fear man,
who dies, or a son of man,
who is given up like grass?”
13 But you forgot Adonai your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.
Are you in constant dread all day
because of the fury of the oppressor
as he makes ready to destroy?
But where is the fury of the oppressor?
14 Soon one bowed down will be released.
He will not die and go to the Pit,
nor will his bread be lacking.
15 “For I am Adonai your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name.
16 I have put My words in your mouth,
and covered you with the shadow of My hand—
I who set the heavens in place,
who laid the foundations of the earth,
and say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
17 Awake, awake!
Stand up, Jerusalem!
From Adonai’s hand you have drunk the cup of His fury,
the chalice of reeling
that you have drained to the dregs.
18 There is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne,
nor is there one to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has raised.
19 These two things have befallen you
—who will mourn for you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and the sword.
How will I comfort you?
20 Your sons have fainted.
They lie at every street corner,
like an antelope in a net.
They are full of Adonai’s fury,
the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine.
22 Thus says your Lord, Adonai your God who defends His people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of reeling,
the bowl of My wrath.
You will never drink it again.
23 Then I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
who said to you, ‘Lie down, so we may walk over you.’
You have made your back like the ground
and like a street for passersby.
Ma Navu: The Song of Salvation
52 Awake, awake!
Clothe yourself in your strength, Zion!
Clothe yourself in beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city,
for the uncircumcised and the unclean
will never invade you again.
2 Shake off the dust and arise!
Be enthroned, Jerusalem.
Loose the bonds off your neck,
captive Daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says Adonai:
“You were sold for nothing.
So you will be redeemed without silver.”
4 For thus says Adonai Elohim:
“At first My people went down to Egypt to reside there,
then the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.
5 “Now therefore, what do I have here?”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“My people are taken away for nothing?
Its rulers wail”
—it is Adonai’s declaration—
“and My Name is continually blasphemed all day long.[x]
6 Therefore My people will know My Name.
Therefore in that day,
I am the One who will be saying, ‘Hineni!’”
7 How beautiful on the mountains are
the feet of him who brings good news,
who announces shalom,
who brings good news of happiness,[y]
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
8 The voice of your watchmen—they will lift up their voices.
Together they are shouting for joy!
For they will see eye to eye
when Adonai returns to Zion.
9 Break forth in joy, sing together,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for Adonai has comforted His people.
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 Adonai has bared His holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations.
All the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.[z]
11 Leave, leave! Get out of there!
Touch no unclean thing.
Go out of her midst. Purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of Adonai.
12 For you will not go out in haste,
nor will you go in flight,
for Adonai will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.