Chronological Plan

¹“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.

²“Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her guilt has been removed, That she has received of the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins.”

³The voice of one calling out, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

⁴Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the uneven ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;

⁵Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

⁶A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

⁷The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; The people are indeed grass!

⁸The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.

⁹Go up on a high mountain, Zion, messenger of good news, Raise your voice forcefully, Jerusalem, messenger of good news; Raise it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”

¹⁰Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His compensation is with Him, And His reward before Him.

¹¹Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in the fold of His robe; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

¹²Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And measured the heavens with a span, And calculated the dust of the earth with a measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?

¹³Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him?

¹⁴With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge, And informed Him of the way of understanding?

¹⁵Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

¹⁶Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, Nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.

¹⁷All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.

¹⁸To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

¹⁹As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, A goldsmith plates it with gold, And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.

²⁰He who is too impoverished for such an offering Selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To prepare an idol that will not totter.

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

²²It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to live in.

²³It is He who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

²⁴Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.

²⁵“To whom then will you compare Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.

²⁶Raise your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who brings out their multitude by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.

²⁷Why do you say, Jacob, and you assert, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?

²⁸Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is unsearchable.

²⁹He gives strength to the weary, And to the one who lacks might He increases power.

³⁰Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,

³¹Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

¹“Listen to Me in silence, you coastlands, And let the peoples gain new strength; Let them come forward, then let them speak; Let’s come together for judgment.

²Who has stirred one from the east Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet? He turns nations over to him And subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, Like the wind-driven chaff with his bow.

³He pursues them, passing on in safety, By a way he had not been traversing with his feet.

⁴Who has performed and accomplished it, Summoning the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’ ”

⁵The coastlands have seen and are afraid; The ends of the earth tremble; They have approached and have come.

⁶Each one helps his neighbor And says to his brother, “Be strong!”

⁷So the craftsman encourages the smelter, And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, Saying of the soldering, “It is good”; And he fastens it with nails, So that it will not totter.

⁸“But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend,

⁹You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth And called from its remotest parts, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

¹⁰Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will also help you, I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

¹¹Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

¹²You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

¹³For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

¹⁴Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you people of Israel; I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵Behold, I turned you into a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And make the hills like chaff.

¹⁶You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And the storm will scatter them; But you will rejoice in the LORD, You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷“The poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none, And their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them Myself; As the God of Israel I will not abandon them.

¹⁸I will open rivers on the bare heights, And springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land fountains of water.

¹⁹I will put the cedar in the wilderness, The acacia, the myrtle, and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert, Together with the elm tree and the cypress,

²⁰So that they may see and recognize, And consider and gain insight as well, That the hand of the LORD has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹“Present your case,” the LORD says. “Bring forward your evidence,” The King of Jacob says.

²²Let them bring them forward and declare to us what is going to take place; As for the former events, declare what they were, So that we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us what is coming;

²³Declare the things that are going to come afterward, So that we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good or evil, that we may be afraid and fear together.

²⁴Behold, you are less than nothing, And your work is less than nothing! He who chooses you is an abomination.

²⁵“I have put one from the north into motion, and he has come; From the rising of the sun he will call on My name; And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar, As the potter treads on clay.”

²⁶Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know? Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”? There was no one at all who declared, There was no one at all who proclaimed, There was no one at all who heard your words.

²⁷“Previously I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’ And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’

²⁸But when I look, there is no one, And there is no counselor among them Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

²⁹Behold, all of them are false; Their works are nothing, Their cast metal images are wind and emptiness.

¹“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.

²He will not cry out nor raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street.

³A bent reed He will not break off And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

⁴He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice on the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

⁵This is what God the LORD says, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it:

⁶“I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations,

⁷To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

⁸I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to idols.

⁹Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they sprout I proclaim them to you.”

¹⁰Sing to the LORD a new song, Sing His praise from the end of the earth! You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it; You islands, and those who live on them.

¹¹Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices, The settlements which Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud, Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.

¹²Let them give glory to the LORD And declare His praise in the coastlands.

¹³The LORD will go out like a warrior, He will stir His zeal like a man of war. He will shout, indeed, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies.

¹⁴“I have kept silent for a long time, I have kept still and restrained Myself. Now like a woman in labor I will groan, I will both gasp and pant.

¹⁵I will lay waste the mountains and hills And wither all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into coastlands And dry up the ponds.

¹⁶I will lead those who are blind by a way they have not known, In paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them And uneven land into plains. These are the things I will do, And I will not leave them undone.”

¹⁷They will be turned back and be utterly put to shame, Who trust in idols, Who say to cast metal images, “You are our gods.”

¹⁸Hear, you who are deaf! And look, you who are blind, so that you may see.

¹⁹Who is blind but My servant, Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as one who is at peace with Me, Or so blind as the servant of the LORD?

²⁰You have seen many things, but you do not retain them; Your ears are open, but no one hears.

²¹The LORD was pleased for His righteousness’ sake To make the Law great and glorious.

²²But this is a people plundered and pillaged; All of them are trapped in caves, Or are hidden away in prisons; They have become plunder, with no one to save them, And spoils with no one to say, “Give them back!”

²³Who among you will listen to this? Who will pay attention and listen in the time to come?

²⁴Who gave Jacob up for spoils, and Israel to plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, And in whose ways they were not willing to walk, And whose Law they did not obey?

²⁵So He poured out on him the heat of His anger And the fierceness of battle; And it set him aflame all around, Yet he did not recognize it; And it burned him, but he paid no attention.

¹But now, this is what the LORD says, He who is your Creator, Jacob, And He who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!

²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.

³For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

⁴Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other people in your place and other nations in exchange for your life.

⁵Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, And gather you from the west.

⁶I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth,

⁷Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

⁸Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, And those who are deaf, even though they have ears.

⁹All the nations have gathered together So that the peoples may be assembled. Who among them can declare this And proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses so that they may be justified, Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”

¹⁰“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.

¹¹I, only I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me.

¹²It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And I am God.

¹³Even from eternity I am He, And there is no one who can rescue from My hand; I act, and who can reverse it?”

¹⁴This is what the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And will bring them all down as fugitives, Even the Chaldeans, into the ships over which they rejoice.

¹⁵I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.”

¹⁶This is what the LORD says, He who makes a way through the sea And a path through the mighty waters,

¹⁷Who brings out the chariot and the horse, The army and the mighty man (They will lie down together and not rise again; They have been extinguished, and have gone out like a wick):

¹⁸“Do not call to mind the former things, Or consider things of the past.

¹⁹Behold, I am going to do something new, Now it will spring up; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.

²⁰The animals of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My chosen people.

²¹The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise.

²²“Yet you have not called on Me, Jacob; But you have become weary of Me, Israel.

²³You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, Nor wearied you with incense.

²⁴You have not bought Me sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; Rather, you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your wrongdoings.

²⁵“I, I alone, am the one who wipes out your wrongdoings for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.

²⁶Meet Me in court, let’s argue our case together; State your cause, so that you may be proved right.

²⁷Your first forefather sinned, And your spokesmen have rebelled against Me.

²⁸So I will profane the officials of the sanctuary, And I will turn Jacob over to destruction and Israel to abuse.