Old/New Testament

⁴ Our Redeemer^(M)—the Lord Almighty^(N) is his name^(O)—
    is the Holy One^(P) of Israel.

⁵ “Sit in silence,^(Q) go into darkness,^(R)
    queen city of the Babylonians;^(S)
no more will you be called
    queen^(T) of kingdoms.^(U)
6 I was angry^(V) with my people
    and desecrated my inheritance;^(W)
I gave them into your hand,^(X)
    and you showed them no mercy.^(Y)
Even on the aged
    you laid a very heavy yoke.
⁷ You said, ‘I am forever^(Z)—
    the eternal queen!’^(AA)
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect^(AB) on what might happen.^(AC)

⁸ “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
    lounging in your security^(AD)
and saying to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.^(AE)
I will never be a widow^(AF)
    or suffer the loss of children.’
⁹ Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,^(AG) on a single day:
    loss of children^(AH) and widowhood.^(AI)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries^(AJ)
    and all your potent spells.^(AK)
10 You have trusted^(AL) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’^(AM)
Your wisdom^(AN) and knowledge mislead^(AO) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
¹¹ Disaster^(AP) will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly^(AQ) come upon you.

¹² “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,^(AR)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.
¹³ All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^(AS)
    Let your astrologers^(AT) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save^(AU) you from what is coming upon you.
¹⁴ Surely they are like stubble;^(AV)
    the fire^(AW) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
    from the power of the flame.^(AX)
These are not coals for warmth;
    this is not a fire to sit by.
¹⁵ That is all they are to you—
    these you have dealt with
    and labored^(AY) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
    there is not one that can save^(AZ) you.

“From now on I will tell you of new things,^(BR)
    of hidden things unknown to you.
⁷ They are created^(BS) now, and not long ago;^(BT)
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    ‘Yes, I knew^(BU) of them.’
⁸ You have neither heard nor understood;^(BV)
    from of old your ears^(BW) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous^(BX) you are;
    you were called a rebel^(BY) from birth.
⁹ For my own name’s sake^(BZ) I delay my wrath;^(CA)
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.^(CB)
10 See, I have refined^(CC) you, though not as silver;
    I have tested^(CD) you in the furnace^(CE) of affliction.
¹¹ For my own sake,^(CF) for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?^(CG)
    I will not yield my glory to another.^(CH)

¹⁴ “Come together,^(CP) all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold^(CQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally^(CR)
    will carry out his purpose^(CS) against Babylon;^(CT)
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.^[b]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called^(CU) him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed^(CV) in his mission.

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;^(CY)
    at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord^(CZ) has sent^(DA) me,
    endowed with his Spirit.^(DB)

¹⁷ This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer,^(DC) the Holy One^(DD) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches^(DE) you what is best for you,
    who directs^(DF) you in the way^(DG) you should go.
¹⁸ If only you had paid attention^(DH) to my commands,
    your peace^(DI) would have been like a river,^(DJ)
    your well-being^(DK) like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹ Your descendants^(DL) would have been like the sand,^(DM)
    your children like its numberless grains;^(DN)
their name would never be blotted out^(DO)
    nor destroyed from before me.”

²⁰ Leave Babylon,
    flee^(DP) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy^(DQ)
    and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;^(DR)
    say, “The Lord has redeemed^(DS) his servant Jacob.”
²¹ They did not thirst^(DT) when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow^(DU) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
    and water gushed out.^(DV)

²² “There is no peace,”^(DW) says the Lord, “for the wicked.”^(DX)

⁵ And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb^(EN) to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel^(EO) to himself,
for I am^[c] honored^(EP) in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength^(EQ)—
⁶ he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant^(ER)
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.^(ES)
I will also make you a light^(ET) for the Gentiles,^(EU)
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”^(EV)

⁷ This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel^(EW)—
to him who was despised^(EX) and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings^(EY) will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,^(EZ)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,^(FA)
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen^(FB) you.”

“In the time of my favor^(FC) I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;^(FD)
I will keep^(FE) you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,^(FF)
to restore the land^(FG)
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,^(FH)
9 to say to the captives,^(FI) ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness,^(FJ) ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.^(FK)
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,^(FL)
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.^(FM)
He who has compassion^(FN) on them will guide^(FO) them
    and lead them beside springs^(FP) of water.
¹¹ I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways^(FQ) will be raised up.^(FR)
12 See, they will come from afar^(FS)—
    some from the north, some from the west,^(FT)
    some from the region of Aswan.^[d]”

¹³ Shout for joy,^(FU) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;^(FV)
    burst into song, you mountains!^(FW)
For the Lord comforts^(FX) his people
    and will have compassion^(FY) on his afflicted ones.^(FZ)

¹⁴ But Zion^(GA) said, “The Lord has forsaken^(GB) me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵ “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child^(GC) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!^(GD)
16 See, I have engraved^(GE) you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls^(GF) are ever before me.
¹⁷ Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste^(GG) depart from you.
¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather^(GH) and come to you.
As surely as I live,^(GI)” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear^(GJ) them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

¹⁹ “Though you were ruined and made desolate^(GK)
    and your land laid waste,^(GL)
now you will be too small for your people,^(GM)
    and those who devoured^(GN) you will be far away.
²⁰ The children born during your bereavement
    will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
    give us more space to live in.’^(GO)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?^(GP)
I was bereaved^(GQ) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.^(GR)
    Who brought these^(GS) up?
I was left^(GT) all alone,^(GU)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner^(GW) to the peoples;
they will bring^(GX) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.^(GY)
23 Kings^(GZ) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.^(HA)
They will bow down^(HB) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust^(HC) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;^(HD)
    those who hope^(HE) in me will not be disappointed.^(HF)”

²⁴ Can plunder be taken from warriors,^(HG)
    or captives be rescued from the fierce^[e]?

“Yes, captives^(HH) will be taken from warriors,^(HI)
    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;^(HJ)
I will contend with those who contend with you,^(HK)
    and your children I will save.^(HL)
26 I will make your oppressors^(HM) eat^(HN) their own flesh;
    they will be drunk on their own blood,^(HO) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know^(HP)
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior,^(HQ)
    your Redeemer,^(HR) the Mighty One of Jacob.^(HS)”