Catholic Public Domain Version

1 And it happened that, when king Hezekiah had heard this, he rent his garments, and he wrapped himself in sackcloth, and he entered the house of the Lord.

2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet.

3 And they said to him: “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy. For the sons have arrived at the time for birth, but there is not enough strength to bring them forth.

4 Perhaps, somehow, the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, has sent to blaspheme the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your prayers on behalf of the remnant which has been left behind.”

5 And so the servants of king Hezekiah went to Isaiah.

6 And Isaiah said to them: “You shall say this to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid to face the words that you have heard, by which the servants of the king of the Assyrians blasphemed me.

7 Behold, I will send a spirit to him, and he will hear a message, and he will return to his own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword, in his own land.”

8 Then Rabshakeh returned, and he found the king of the Assyrians fighting against Libnah. For he had heard that he had set out from Lachish.

9 And he heard from Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia: “He has gone forth so that he may fight against you.” And when he had heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying:

10 “You shall say this to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, saying: Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying: ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.’

11 Behold, you have heard about all that the kings of the Assyrians have done to all the lands that they have conquered, and so, how can you be delivered?

12 Have the gods of the nations rescued those whom my fathers have conquered: Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were at Telassar?

13 Where is the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad, or the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena and Ivvah?”

14 And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and he read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord, and Hezekiah spread it out in the sight of the Lord.

15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying:

16 “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel who sits upon the Cherubim: you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

17 O Lord, incline your ear and listen. O Lord, open your eyes and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to blaspheme the living God.

18 For truly, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste to countries and territories.

19 And they have cast their gods into the fire. For these were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, of wood and of stone. And they broke them into pieces.

20 And now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand. And let all the kingdoms of the earth acknowledge that you alone are Lord.”

21 And Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because of what you have prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians,

22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken over him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and mocked you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.

23 Whom have you insulted? And whom have you blasphemed? And against whom have you lifted up your voice and raised up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel!

24 By the hand of your servants, you have reproached the Lord. And you have said: ‘With a multitude of my four-horse chariots, I have ascended the heights of the mountains adjoining Lebanon. And I will cut down its lofty cedars and its choice pine trees. And I will reach the top of its summit, to the forest of its Carmel.

25 I dug deep, and I drank water, and I dried up all the river banks with the sole of my foot.’

26 Have you not heard what I have done to it in past times? In ancient times, I formed it. And now I have brought it forth. And it has been made so that the hills and the fortified cities would fight together, unto its destruction.

27 Their inhabitants had unsteady hands. They trembled and were confused. They became like the plants of the field, and the grass of the pastures, and like the weeds on the rooftops, which wither before they are mature.

28 I know your habitation, and your arrival, and your departure, and your madness against me.

29 When you became angry against me, your arrogance rose up to my ears. Therefore, I will place a ring in your nose, and a bit between your lips. And I will turn you back on the road by which you arrived.

30 But this shall be a sign for you: Eat, in this year, whatever springs up on its own. And in the second year, eat fruits. But in the third year, sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

31 And what will be saved from the house of Judah, and what is left behind, will form deep roots, and will bear high fruits.

32 For from Jerusalem, a remnant shall go forth, and salvation from mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

33 For this reason, thus says the Lord about the king of the Assyrians: He will not enter this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor overtake it with a shield, nor dig a rampart all around it.

34 He will return on the road by which he arrived. And into this city, he will not enter, says the Lord.

35 And I will protect this city, so that I may save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David, my servant.”

36 Then the Angel of the Lord went forth and struck down, in the camp of the Assyrians, one hundred eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold, all these were dead bodies.

37 And Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, departed and went away. And he returned and lived at Nineveh.

38 And it happened that, as he was adoring his god in the temple of Nisroch, his sons, Adramelech and Sharezer, struck him with the sword. And they fled into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his place.

1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was near death. And so, Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet, entered to him, and he said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you shall die, and you shall not live.”

2 And Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and he prayed to the Lord.

3 And he said: “I beg you, Lord, I beseech you, to remember how I walked before you in truth and with a whole heart, and that I have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping.

4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying:

5 “Go and say to Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father: I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your days.

6 And I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it.

7 And this will be a sign for you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word, which he has spoken:

8 Behold, I will cause the shadow of the lines, which has now descended on the sundial of Ahaz, to move in reverse for ten lines.” And so, the sun moved backward by ten lines, through the degrees by which it had descended.

9 The writing of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, after he had fallen ill and had recovered from his sickness:

10 “I said: In the middle of my days, I will go to the gates of Hell. So I sought the remainder of my years.

11 I said: I will not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I will no longer behold man, nor the habitation of rest.

12 My longevity has been taken away; it has been folded up and taken from me, like the tent of a shepherd. My life has been cut off, as if by a weaver. While I was still beginning, he cut me off. From morning until evening, you have marked out my limits.

13 I hoped, even until morning. Like a lion, so has he crushed all my bones. From morning until evening, you have marked my limits.

14 I will cry out, like a young swallow. I will meditate, like a dove. My eyes have been weakened by gazing upward. O Lord, I suffer violence! Answer in my favor.

15 What can I say, or what would he answer me, since he himself has done this? I will acknowledge to you all my years, in the bitterness of my soul.

16 O Lord, if such is life, and if the life of my spirit is of such a kind, may you correct me and may you cause me to live.

17 Behold, in peace my bitterness is most bitter. But you have rescued my soul, so that it would not perish. You have cast all my sins behind your back.

18 For Hell will not confess to you, and death will not praise you. Those who descend into the pit will not hope for your truth.

19 The living, the living, these will give praise to you, as I also do this day! The father will make the truth known to the sons.

20 O Lord, save me! And we will sing our psalms, all the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.”

21 Now Isaiah had ordered them to take a paste of figs, and to spread it like plaster over the wound, so that he would be healed.

22 And Hezekiah said, “What will be the sign that I may go up to the house of the Lord?”

1 At that time, Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah. For he had heard that he had fallen ill and had recovered.

2 And Hezekiah rejoiced over them, and he showed them the storehouses of his aromatic spices, and of the silver and gold, and of the perfumes and precious ointments, and all the repositories for his belongings, and all the things that were found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them.

3 Then Isaiah the prophet entered before king Hezekiah, and he said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a far away land, from Babylon.”

4 And he said, “What did they see in your house?” And Hezekiah said: “They have seen all the things that are in my house. There was nothing that I did not show them among my treasures.”

5 And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts:

6 Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have stored up, even to this day, will be taken away to Babylon. There will be nothing left behind, says the Lord.

7 And your children, who will issue from you, whom you will produce, they will be taken away. And they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which he has spoken is good.” And he said, “But let there be peace and truth in my days.”

1 “Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!” says your God.

2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord.

3 The voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.

4 Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened, and the uneven will become level ways.

5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” And I said, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.

7 The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. For the Spirit of the Lord has blown over it. Truly, the people are like grass.

8 The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.”

9 You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: “Behold, your God!”

10 Behold, the Lord God will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him.

11 He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and who has weighed the heavens with his palm? Who has suspended the mass of the earth with three fingers, and who has weighed the mountains on a balance and the hills on a scale?

13 Who has assisted the Spirit of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor and has revealed things to him?

14 With whom has he consulted? And who has instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and guided him to knowledge, and revealed the way of understanding to him?

15 Behold, the nations are like a drop of water in a bucket, and they are considered as the smallest grain on a balance. Behold, the islands are like a little dust.

16 And Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals will not be sufficient for a burnt offering.

17 All the nations in his sight are as if they did not exist, and they are considered by him as if they were nothingness and emptiness.

18 Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with what image would you replace him?

19 Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?

20 He has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved.

21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?

22 He is the One who sits upon the globe of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He extends the heavens as if they were nothing, and he spreads them out like a tent, in which to dwell.

23 He has brought those who examine what is secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth to emptiness.

24 And certainly, their stalk was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the ground. He has suddenly blown them across them, and they have withered, and a whirlwind will carry them away like chaff.

25 “And to whom would you compare me or equate me?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things. He leads forth their army by number, and he calls them all by name. Because of the fullness of his strength and robustness and virtue, not one of them was left behind.

27 Why do you say this, O Jacob, and why do you speak this way, O Israel? “My way has been hidden from the Lord, and my judgment escaped notice by my God.”

28 Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord is the eternal God, who has created the limits of the earth. He does not diminish, and he does not struggle. Neither is his wisdom searchable.

29 It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing.

30 Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity.

31 But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire.

1 Let the islands be silent before me, and let the nations take new strength. Let them draw near, and then speak. Let us apply for judgment together.

2 Who has raised up a just man from the east, and has called him to follow him? He will place the nations under his gaze, and he will rule over kings. He will cause them to be like dust before his sword, like chaff driven by the wind before his bow.

3 He will pursue them. He will pass by in peace. No trace will appear after his feet.

4 Who has worked and accomplished these things, calling to the generations from the beginning? “It is I, the Lord! I am the first and the last.”

5 The islands saw it and were afraid. The ends of the earth were stupefied. They drew near and arrived.

6 Each one will help his neighbor and will say to his brother, “Be strengthened.”

7 The coppersmith striking with the mallet encouraged him who was forging at that time, saying, “It is ready for soldering.” And he strengthened it with nails, so that it would not be moved.

8 But you, O Israel, are my servant, O Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of my friend Abraham.

9 For his sake, I have taken you from the ends of the earth, and I have called you from its distant places. And I said to you: “You are my servant. I have chosen you, and I have not cast you aside.”

10 Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not turn away, for I am your God. I have strengthened you, and I have assisted you, and the right hand of my just one has upheld you.

11 Behold, all who fight against you shall be confounded and ashamed. They will be as if they did not exist, and the men who contradict you will perish.

12 You will seek them, and you will not find them. The men who rebel against you will be as if they did not exist. And the men who make war against you will be like something that has been consumed.

13 For I am the Lord your God. I take you by your hand, and I say to you: Do not be afraid. I have helped you.

14 Fear not, O worm of Jacob, you who are dead within Israel. I have helped you, says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 I have established you like a new threshing cart, having serrated blades. You will thresh the mountains and crush them. And you will turn the hills into chaff.

16 You will winnow them, and the wind will blow them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. And you shall exult in the Lord; you shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

17 The indigent and the poor are seeking water, but there is none. Their tongue has been dried up by thirst. I, the Lord, will heed them. I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

18 I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the midst of the plains. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the impassable land into streams of water.

19 I will plant the cedar in a deserted place, with the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree. In the desert, I will plant the pine, and the elm, and the box tree together,

20 so that they may see and know, acknowledge and understand, together, that the hand of the Lord has accomplished this, and that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21 Bring your case forward, says the Lord. Bring it here, if you have anything to allege, says the King of Jacob.

22 Let them approach and announce to us the things that will occur. Announce to us the things that were before. And we will apply our heart to them, and we will know their end. And so, reveal to us the things that will occur.

23 Announce the things that will occur in the future, and we will know that you are gods. Likewise, accomplish good or evil, if you are able, and let us speak of it and see it together.

24 Behold, you exist out of nothing, and your work is from what does not exist; he who has chosen you is an abomination.

25 I have raised up one from the north, and he will arrive from the rising of the sun. He will call upon my name, and he will reduce magistrates to mud, like a potter working with clay.

26 Who has announced this from its rising, so that we may know it, or from its beginning, so that we may say, “You are just.” There is no one who either announces, or predicts, or hears your words.

27 The first one will say to Zion: “Behold, they are here,” and to Jerusalem, “I will present an evangelist.”

28 And I saw, and there was no one among any of them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word.

29 Behold, they are all unjust, and their works are empty. Their idols are wind and emptiness.

1 Behold my servant, I will uphold him, my elect, with him my soul is well-pleased. I have sent my Spirit upon him. He will offer judgment to the nations.

2 He will not cry out, and he will not show favoritism to anyone; neither will his voice be heard abroad.

3 The bruised reed he will not break, and the smoldering wick he will not extinguish. He will lead forth judgment unto truth.

4 He will not be saddened or troubled, until he establishes judgment on earth. And the islands will await his law.

5 Thus says the Lord God, who created the heavens and expanded it, who formed the earth and all that springs from it, who gives breath to the people in it, and spirit to those walking on it.

6 I, the Lord, have called you in justice, and I have taken your hand and preserved you. And I have presented you as a covenant of the people, as a light to the Gentiles,

7 so that you may open the eyes of the blind, and lead out the prisoner from confinement and those sitting in darkness from the house of incarceration.

8 I am the Lord; this is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things.

9 The things that were first, behold, they have arrived. And I also announce what is new. Before these things arise, I will cause you to hear about them.

10 Sing to the Lord a new canticle, sing his praise from the ends of the earth, you who descend into the sea and all its fullness, the islands and their inhabitants.

11 Let the desert and its cities be lifted up. Kedar will dwell in houses. O inhabitants of the rock, give praise! They will cry out from the top of the mountains.

12 They will give glory to the Lord, and they will announce his praise to the islands.

13 The Lord will go forth like a strong man; like a man of battle, he will stir up zeal. He will shout and cry out. He will prevail against his enemies.

14 I have always been quiet; I have been silent; I have been patient. I will speak like a woman giving birth. I will destroy and consume, all at once.

15 I will desolate the mountains and the hills, and I will wither all their grass. And I will turn rivers into islands, and I will dry up the pools of water.

16 And I will lead the blind along a way which they do not know. And I will cause them to walk along paths with which they were unfamiliar. I will turn darkness into light before them, and crooked into straight. These things I have done for them. For I have not abandoned them.

17 They have been converted again. Let those who trust in graven idols be greatly confounded, for they say to a molten thing, “You are our god.”

18 You who are deaf, hear! You who are blind, turn your gaze and see!

19 Who is blind, except my servant? Who is deaf, except the one to whom I have sent my messengers? Who is blind, except the one who has been sold? And who is blind, except the servant of the Lord?

20 You who see many things, will you not keep them? You who have open ears, will you not listen?

21 And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and to exalt him.

22 But this same people has robbed and laid waste. All their youth are a snare, and they have been hidden in houses of confinement. They have become victims; there is no one who may rescue them. They have been plundered; there is no one who may say, “Restore.”

23 Who is there among you who will hear this, who will listen closely and heed this in the future?

24 Who has handed over Jacob into plunder, and Israel into devastation? It is not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned? And they were not willing to walk in his ways, and they have not listened to his law.

25 And so, he poured out over him the indignation of his fury and a strong battle. And he burned him all around, and he did not realize it. And he set him on fire, and he did not understand it.

1 And now thus says the Lord who created you, O Jacob, and who formed you, O Israel: Do not be afraid. For I have redeemed you, and I have called you by your name. You are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not cover you. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flames will not scorch you.

3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I have presented Egypt as your atonement, Ethiopia and Seba on your behalf.

4 Since then, you have become honorable in my eyes, and glorious. I have loved you, and I will present men on behalf of you, and people on behalf of your life.

5 Fear not, for I am with you. I will lead your offspring from the East, and I will gather you from the West.

6 I will say to the North, “Release him,” and to the South, “Do not turn him away.” Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth.

7 And each one who calls upon my name, I have created for my glory. I have formed him, and I have made him.

8 Lead forth the people who are blind and have eyes, who are deaf and have ears.

9 All the nations have been assembled together, and the tribes have been collected. Who among you will announce this, and who will cause us to listen to the things that are first? Let them present their witnesses. Let them act justly, and listen, and say: “It is true.”

10 You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and you are my servant, whom I have chosen, so that you may know, and may believe in me, and so that you may understand that I am the same. Before me, there was no god formed, and after me there will be none.

11 I am. I am the Lord. And there is no savior apart from me.

12 I have announced, and I have saved. I have caused it to be heard. And there was no stranger among you. You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and I am God.

13 And from the beginning, I am the same. And there is no one who can rescue from my hand. I act, and who can turn it aside?

14 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake, I sent to Babylon, and tore down all their bars, with the Chaldeans who glory in their ships.

15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.

16 Thus says the Lord, who gave you a way through the sea and a path through the torrent of waters,

17 who led out the chariot and the horse, the column of robust troops. They went to sleep together, and they will not arise. They have been crushed like flax, and they have been extinguished.

18 You need not call to mind the past, nor consider the things of antiquity.

19 Behold, I am accomplishing new things. And presently, they will spring forth. With certainty, you will know them. I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in an impassible place.

20 The wild beasts of the field will glorify me, with the serpents and the ostriches. For I have brought waters to the desert, rivers to inaccessible places, in order to give drink to my people, to my elect.

21 This is the people whom I have formed for myself. They will speak my praise.

22 But you have not called upon me, O Jacob, nor have you struggled for me, O Israel.

23 You have not offered me the ram of your holocaust, and you have not glorified me with your victims. I have not burdened you with oblations, nor have I wearied you with incense.

24 You have bought me no sweet cane with money, and you have not inebriated me with the fat of your victims. Yet truly, you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.

25 I am. I am the very One who wipes away your iniquities for my own sake. And I will not remember your sins.

26 Call me to mind, and let us go to judgment together. If you have anything to justify yourself, explain it.

27 Your first father sinned, and your interpreters have betrayed me.

28 And so, I have defiled the holy leaders. I have handed over Jacob to slaughter, and Israel to calumny.

1 And now, listen, Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen.

2 Thus says the Lord, who made and formed you, your Helper from the womb: Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant and my most righteous, whom I have chosen.

3 For I will pour out waters upon the thirsty ground, and rivers upon the dry land. I will pour out my Spirit upon your offspring, and my benediction upon your stock.

4 And they will spring up among the plants, like willows beside running waters.

5 This one will say, “I am the Lord’s,” and that one will call himself by the name of Jacob, and yet another will write with his hand, “For the Lord,” and he will take the name Israel.

6 Thus says the Lord, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last, and there is no God apart from me.

7 Who is like me? Let him call out and announce it. And let him explain to me the order of things, since it is I who appointed the ancient people. The things of the near and the distant future, let him announce them.

8 Do not be afraid, and do not be disturbed. From the time when I caused you to listen, I also announced it. You are my witnesses. Is there another God beside me, also a Maker, whom I have not known?

9 All of those who create idols are nothing, and their most beloved things will not benefit them. These are their witnesses, for they do not see, and they do not understand, so that they might be confounded.

10 Who has formed a god or cast a molten image, which is useful for nothing?

11 Behold, all those who partake in this will be confounded. For these makers are men. They will all assemble together. They will stand and be terrified. And they will be confounded together.

12 The maker of iron has wrought with his file. With coals and hammers, he has formed it, and he has wrought with the strength of his arm. He will hunger and grow faint. He will not drink water, and he will become weary.

13 The maker of wood has extended his ruler. He has formed it with a plane. He has made it with corners, and he has smoothed its curves. And he has made the image of a man, a seemingly beautiful man, dwelling in a house.

14 He has cut down cedars; he has taken the evergreen oak, and the oak that stood among the trees of the forest. He has planted the pine tree, which the rain has nourished.

15 And it is used by men for fuel. He took from it and warmed himself. And he set it on fire and baked bread. But from the remainder, he made a god, and he adored it. He made an idol, and he bowed down before it.

16 Part of it, he burned with fire, and with part of it, he cooked meat; he boiled food and was filled. And he was warmed, and so he said: “Ah, I am warm. I have gazed at the fire.”

17 But from its remainder, he made a god and a graven image for himself. He bowed down before it, and he adored it, and he prayed to it, saying: “Free me! For you are my god.”

18 They have neither known nor understood. For their eyes are obscured, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart.

19 They do not consider in their mind, nor do they know, nor do they think to say: “I have burned part of it in the fire, and I have baked bread upon its coals. I have cooked flesh and I have eaten. And from its remainder, should I make an idol? Should I fall prostrate before the trunk of a tree?”

20 Part of it is ashes. His foolish heart adores it. And he will not liberate his soul, and he will not say, “Perhaps there is a lie in my right hand.”

21 Remember these things, O Jacob, O Israel. For you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant, Israel. Do not forget me.

22 I have wiped away your iniquities like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, because I have redeemed you.

23 Give praise, O heavens! For the Lord has shown mercy. Shout with joy, O ends of the earth! Let the mountains resound with praise, with the forest and all its trees. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and Israel will be glorified.

24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and your Maker from the womb: I am the Lord, who makes all things, who alone extends the heavens, who makes the earth firm. And there is no one with me.

25 I make the signs of the diviners useless, and I turn the seers to madness. I turn the wise backwards, and make their knowledge into foolishness.

26 I lift up the word of my servant, and I fulfill the counsel of my messengers. I say to Jerusalem, “You shall be inhabited,” and to the cities of Judah, “You shall be rebuilt,” and I will lift up its deserts.

27 I say to the depths, “Be desolate,” and, “I will dry up your rivers.”

28 I say to Cyrus, “You are my shepherd, and you will accomplish all that I will.” I say to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” and to the Temple, “Your foundations shall be laid.”

1 Thus says the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I hold, so that I may subjugate the nations before his face, and I may turn the backs of kings, and I may open the doors before him, and so that the gates will not be shut.

2 I will go before you. And I will humble the glorious ones of the earth. I will shatter the gates of brass, and I will break apart the bars of iron.

3 And I will give you hidden treasures and the knowledge of secret things, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls your name.

4 For the sake of Jacob, my servant, and Israel, my elect, I have even called you by your name. I have taken you up, and you have not known me.

5 I am the Lord, and there is no one else. There is no god beside me. I girded you, and you have not known me.

6 So may those who are from the rising of the sun, and those who are from its setting, know that there is no one beside me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.

7 I form the light and create the darkness. I make peace and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things.

8 Send down dew from above, O heavens, and let the clouds rain down upon the just! Let the earth open and spring forth a savior! And let justice rise up at once! I, the Lord, have created him.

9 Woe to him who contradicts his Maker, a mere shard from an earthen vessel! Should the clay say to the potter, “What are you making?” or, “Your work is not made by your hands?”

10 Woe to him who says to his father, “Why did you conceive?” or to a woman, “Why did you give birth?”

11 Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, his Maker: Would you question me about the future, concerning my sons, and command me concerning the work of my hands?

12 I made the earth, and I created man upon it. My hand stretched out the heavens, and I have commanded all their hosts.

13 I have raised him up unto justice, and I will direct all his ways. He himself will build my city and release my captives, but not for ransom or gifts, says the Lord, the God of hosts.

14 Thus says the Lord: The labor of Egypt, and the business dealings of Ethiopia, and of the Sabeans, men of stature, will pass to you and will be yours. They will walk behind you. They will travel, bound in irons. And they will adore you and petition you: “In you alone is God, and there is no God apart from you.

15 Truly, you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior.”

16 They have all been confounded and should be ashamed! These fabricators of errors have departed together into confusion!

17 Israel is saved in the Lord by an eternal salvation. You will not be confounded, and you will not be ashamed, even forever and ever.

18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, God himself who formed the earth and made it, the very Molder of it. He did not create it to no purpose. He formed it so that it would be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other.

19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth. I have not said to the offspring of Jacob, “Seek me in vain.” I am the Lord, who speaks justice, who announces what is right.

20 Assemble yourselves, and approach, and draw near together, you who have been saved among the Gentiles. They lack knowledge, who lift up the wood of their sculpture, and who petition a god unable to save.

21 Announce it, and approach, and consult together. Who has caused this to be heard from the beginning, and who has foretold it from that time? Is it not I, the Lord? And is there some other god beside me? I am a just God who saves, and there is no one except me.

22 All ends of the earth, be converted to me, and you will be saved. For I am God, and there is no other.

23 I have sworn by myself. The Word of justice will proceed from my mouth, and it will not turn back.

24 For every knee shall bend to me, and every tongue shall swear it.

25 Therefore, he will say, “In the Lord are my justices and my dominion.” They will go to him. And all who fight against him will be confounded.

26 In the Lord, all the offspring of Israel will be justified and praised.

1 Bel has been broken. Nebo has been crushed. Their idols have been placed upon beasts and cattle, your grievous heavy burdens, even unto exhaustion.

2 They have been melted down, or have been smashed together. They were not able to save the one who carried them, and their life will go into captivity.

3 Listen to me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who are carried in my bosom, who were born from my womb.

4 Even to your old age, I am the same. And even with your grey hairs, I will carry you. I have made you, and I will sustain you. I will carry you, and I will save you.

5 To whom would you likened me, or equate me, or compare me, or consider me to be similar?

6 You take gold from a bag, and you weigh silver on a scale, so as to hire a goldsmith to make a god. And they fall prostrate and adore.

7 They carry him on their shoulders, supporting him, and they set him in his place. And he will stand still and will not move from his place. But even when they will cry out to him, he will not hear. He will not save them from tribulation.

8 Remember this, and be confounded. Return, you transgressors, to the heart.

9 Remember the past ages. For I am God, and there is no other god. There is no one like me.

10 From the beginning, I announce the last things, and from the start, the things that have not yet been done, saying: My plan will stand firm, and my entire will shall be done.

11 I call a bird from the east, and from a far away land, the man of my will. And I have spoken it, and I will carry it out. I have created, and I will act.

12 Hear me, you who are hard of heart, who are far from justice!

13 I have brought my justice near. It will not be far away, and my salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation in Zion, and my glory in Israel.