Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:

«I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,

To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.

Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.»

Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!

Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, Let them shout from the top of the mountains.

Let them give glory to the LORD, And declare His praise in the coastlands.

The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies.

«I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once.

I will lay waste the mountains and hills, And dry up all their vegetation; I will make the rivers coastlands, And I will dry up the pools.

I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them.

They shall be turned back, They shall be greatly ashamed, Who trust in carved images, Who say to the molded images, «You are our gods.́

«Hear, you deaf; And look, you blind, that you may see.

Who is blind but My servant, Or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is perfect, And blind as the LORD́s servant?

Seeing many things, but you do not observe; Opening the ears, but he does not hear.»

The LORD is well pleased for His righteousnesś sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable.

But this is a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, And they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one says, «Restore!»

Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?

Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the LORD, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, Nor were they obedient to His law.

Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger And the strength of battle; It has set him on fire all around, Yet he did not know; And it burned him, Yet he did not take it to heart.

«Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.

And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me.»

«And He said to me, «You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified.́

Then I said, «I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, And my work with my God.»́

«And now the LORD says, Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, So that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, And My God shall be My strength),

Indeed He says, «It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.»́

Thus says the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nation abhors, To the Servant of rulers: «Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the LORD who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You.»

Thus says the LORD: «In an acceptable time I have heard You, And in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You As a covenant to the people, To restore the earth, To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;

That You may say to the prisoners, «Go forth,́ To those who are in darkness, «Show yourselves.́ «They shall feed along the roads, And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.

They shall neither hunger nor thirst, Neither heat nor sun shall strike them; For He who has mercy on them will lead them, Even by the springs of water He will guide them.

I will make each of My mountains a road, And My highways shall be elevated.

Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, And these from the land of Sinim.»

Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, And will have mercy on His afflicted.

But Zion said, «The LORD has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me.»

«Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

Your sons shall make haste; Your destroyers and those who laid you waste Shall go away from you.

Lift up your eyes, look around and see; All these gather together and come to you. As I live,» says the LORD, «You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament, And bind them on you as a bride does.

«For your waste and desolate places, And the land of your destruction, Will even now be too small for the inhabitants; And those who swallowed you up will be far away.

The children you will have, After you have lost the others, Will say again in your ears, «The place is too small for me; Give me a place where I may dwell.́

Then you will say in your heart, «Who has begotten these for me, Since I have lost my children and am desolate, A captive, and wandering to and fro? And who has brought these up? There I was, left alone; But these, where were they?»́

Thus says the Lord GOD: «Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, And set up My standard for the peoples; They shall bring your sons in their arms, And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;

Kings shall be your foster fathers, And their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, And lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD, For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.»

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?

But thus says the LORD: «Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, And the prey of the terrible be delivered; For I will contend with him who contends with you, And I will save your children.

I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh, And they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. All flesh shall know That I, the LORD, am your Savior, And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.»

«Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married woman,» says the LORD.

«Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes.

For you shall expand to the right and to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the desolate cities inhabited.

«Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.

For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.

For the LORD has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused,» Says your God.

«For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you.

With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,» Says the LORD, your Redeemer.

«For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.

For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,» Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.

«O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires.

I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones.

All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children.

In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.

«Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy.

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,» Says the LORD.