New King James Version (NKJV)

Dead Idols and the Living God

1 Belbows down, Nebo stoops;

Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle.

Your carriageswereheavily loaded,

# A burden to the wearybeast.

2 They stoop, they bow down together;

They could not deliver the burden,

# But have themselves gone into captivity.

3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,

And all the remnant of the house of Israel,

# Who have been upheldbyMefrom birth,

Who have been carried from the womb:

4 Even toyourold age,IamHe,

# Andevento gray hairsI will carryyou!

I have made, and I will bear;

Even I will carry, and will deliveryou.

5 “Towhom will you liken Me, and makeMeequal

And compare Me, that we should be alike?

6 They lavish gold out of the bag,

And weigh silver on the scales;

# They hire agoldsmith, and he makes it a god;

They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.

7 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it

And set it in its place, and it stands;

From its place it shall not move.

# Thoughonecries out to it, yet it cannot answer

Nor save him out of his trouble.

8 “Remember this, and show yourselves men;

# Recall to mind, O you transgressors.

9 Remember the former things of old,

# For IamGod, andthereisno other;

IamGod, andthereisnone like Me,

10 Declaring the end from the beginning,

And from ancient timesthingsthat are notyetdone,

# Saying,‘My counsel shall stand,

And I will do all My pleasure,’

11 Calling a bird of preyfrom the east,

# The manwho executes My counsel, from a far country.

# IndeedI have spokenit;

I will also bring it to pass.

I have purposedit;

I will also do it.

12 “Listen to Me, youstubborn-hearted,

# Whoarefar from righteousness:

13 I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off;

# My salvationshall not linger.

# And I will placesalvation in Zion,

For Israel My glory.

The Humiliation of Babylon

1 “Comedown andsit in the dust,

# O virgin daughter ofBabylon;

Sit on the ground without a throne,

O daughter of the Chaldeans!

For you shall no more be called

Tender and delicate.

2 Take the millstones and grind meal.

Remove your veil,

Take off the skirt,

Uncover the thigh,

Pass through the rivers.

3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,

Yes, your shame will be seen;

# I will take vengeance,

And I will not arbitrate with a man.”

4 Asforour Redeemer, theLordof hostsisHis name,

The Holy One of Israel.

5 “Sit insilence, and go into darkness,

O daughter of the Chaldeans;

# For you shall no longer be called

The Lady of Kingdoms.

6 I was angry with My people;

# I have profaned My inheritance,

And given them into your hand.

You showed them no mercy;

# On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.

7 And you said, ‘I shall bea lady forever,’

# Sothat you did nottake thesethingsto heart,

# Nor remember the latter end of them.

8 “Therefore hear this now,youwhoaregiven to pleasures,

Who dwell securely,

Who say in your heart, ‘Iam,andthereisno one else besides me;

I shall not sitasa widow,

Nor shall I know the loss of children’;

9 But these twothingsshall come to you

# In a moment, in one day:

The loss of children, and widowhood.

They shall come upon you in their fullness

Because of the multitude of your sorceries,

For the great abundance of your enchantments.

10 “For you have trusted in your wickedness;

# You have said, ‘No onesees me’;

Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you;

And you have said in your heart,

‘Iam,andthereisno one else besides me.’

11 Therefore evil shall come upon you;

You shall not know from where it arises.

And trouble shall fall upon you;

You will not be able to put it off.

# Anddesolation shall come upon yousuddenly,

Whichyou shall not know.

12 “Stand now with your enchantments

And the multitude of your sorceries,

In which you have labored from your youth—

Perhaps you will be able to profit,

Perhaps you will prevail.

13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;

# Let nowthe astrologers, the stargazers,

Andthe monthly prognosticators

Stand up and save you

From what shall come upon you.

14 Behold, they shall beas stubble,

# The fire shallburn them;

They shall not deliver themselves

From the power of the flame;

Itshallnotbea coal to be warmed by,

Nora fire to sit before!

15 Thus shall they be to you

With whom you have labored,

# Your merchants from your youth;

They shall wander each one to his quarter.

No one shall save you.

Israel Refined for God’s Glory

1 “Hear this, O house of Jacob,

Who are called by the name of Israel,

And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah;

Who swear by the name of theLord,

And make mention of the God of Israel,

# Butnot in truth or in righteousness;

2 For they call themselvesafter the holy city,

# Andlean on the God of Israel;

TheLordof hostsisHis name:

3 “I havedeclared the former things from the beginning;

They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.

# Suddenly I didthem,and they came to pass.

4 Because I knew that youwereobstinate,

# Andyour neckwasan iron sinew,

And your brow bronze,

5 Even from the beginning I have declareditto you;

Before it came to pass I proclaimeditto you,

Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,

And my carved image and my molded image

Have commanded them.’

6 “You have heard;

See all this.

And will you not declareit?

I have made you hear new things from this time,

Even hidden things, and you did not know them.

7 They are created now and not from the beginning;

And before this day you have not heard them,

Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’

8 Surely you did not hear,

Surely you did not know;

Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.

For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,

# And were calleda transgressor from the womb.

9 “ForMy name’s sakeI will defer My anger,

AndforMy praise I will restrain it from you,

So that I do not cut you off.

10 Behold,I have refined you, but not as silver;

# I have tested you in thefurnace of affliction.

11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will doit;

# Forhow shouldMynamebe profaned?

# AndI will not give My glory to another.

God’s Ancient Plan to Redeem Israel

12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob,

And Israel, My called:

# IamHe,IamtheFirst,

Iamalso the Last.

13 IndeedMy hand has laid the foundation of the earth,

And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;

# WhenI call to them,

They stand up together.

14 “All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear!

Who among them has declared thesethings?

# TheLordloves him;

# He shall do His pleasure on Babylon,

And His armshallbeagainstthe Chaldeans.

15 I,evenI, have spoken;

# Yes,I have called him,

I have brought him, and his way will prosper.

16 “Come near to Me, hear this:

# I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;

From the time that it was, Iwasthere.

# And nowthe LordGodand His Spirit

Have sent Me.”

17 Thus saystheLord, your Redeemer,

The Holy One of Israel:

“IamtheLordyour God,

Who teaches you to profit,

# Who leads you by the way you should go.

18 Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!

# Then your peace would have been like a river,

And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

19 Your descendants also would have been like the sand,

And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand;

His name would not have been cut off

Nor destroyed from before Me.”

20 Go forth from Babylon!

Flee from the Chaldeans!

With a voice of singing,

Declare, proclaim this,

Utter it to the end of the earth;

# Say, “TheLordhasredeemed

His servant Jacob!”

21 And theydid not thirst

When He led them through the deserts;

# Hecaused the waters to flow from the rock for them;

He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.

22 “Thereis no peace,” says theLord, “for the wicked.”

The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles

1 “Listen,O coastlands, to Me,

And take heed, you peoples from afar!

# TheLordhas called Me from the womb;

From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.

2 And He has madeMy mouth like a sharp sword;

# In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,

# And made Mea polished shaft;

In His quiver He has hidden Me.”

3 “And He said to me,

# ‘YouareMy servant, O Israel,

# In whom I will be glorified.’

4 Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,

I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;

Yet surely my just rewardiswith theLord,

And my work with my God.’ ”

5 “And now theLordsays,

Who formed Me from the wombtobeHis Servant,

To bring Jacob back to Him,

# So that Israelis gathered to Him

(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of theLord,

And My God shall be My strength),

6 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 alight to the Gentiles,

That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

7 Thus says theLord,

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 theLordwho is faithful,

The Holy One of Israel;

And He has chosen You.”

8 Thus says theLord:

# “In anacceptable time I have heard You,

And in the day of salvation I have helped You;

# I will preserve Youand give You

As a covenant to the people,

To restore the earth,

To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;

9 That You may sayto the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’

To those whoarein darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

“They shall feed along the roads,

And their pasturesshallbeon all desolate heights.

10 They shall neitherhunger nor thirst,

# Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;

# For He who has mercy on themwill lead them,

Even by the springs of water He will guide them.

11 I will make each of My mountains a road,

And My highways shall be elevated.

12 Surelythese shall come from afar;

Look! Those from the north and the west,

And these from the land of Sinim.”

13 Sing, O heavens!

Be joyful, O earth!

And break out in singing, O mountains!

For theLordhas comforted His people,

And will have mercy on His afflicted.

God Will Remember Zion

14 But Zion said, “TheLordhas forsaken me,

And my Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Cana 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.

16 See,I have inscribed you on the palmsofMyhands;

Your wallsarecontinually before Me.

17 Your sons shall make haste;

Your destroyers and those who laid you waste

Shall go away from you.

18 Lift up your eyes, look around and see;

All these gather togetherandcome to you.

AsI live,” says theLord,

# “You shall surely clothe yourselves with them allas an ornament,

And bind themonyouas a bridedoes.

19 “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.

20 The children you will have,

# After you have lost the others,

Will say again in your ears,

‘The placeistoo small for me;

Give me a place where I may dwell.’

21 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, wherewerethey?’ ”

22 Thus says the LordGod:

“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 intheirarms,

And your daughters shall be carried ontheirshoulders;

23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,

And their queens your nursing mothers;

They shall bow down to you withtheirfaces to the earth,

# Andlick up the dust of your feet.

Then you will know that IamtheLord,

# For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”

24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,

Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?

25 But thus says theLord:

“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.

26 I willfeed those who oppress you with their own flesh,

# And they shall be drunk with their ownblood as with sweet wine.

# All fleshshall know

That I, theLord,amyour Savior,

And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

The Servant, Israel’s Hope

1 Thus says theLord:

# “Whereisthe certificate of your mother’s divorce,

Whom I have put away?

# Or which of Mycreditorsisitto whom I have sold you?

# For your iniquitiesyou have sold yourselves,

And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.

2 Why, when I came,wasthereno man?

Why,when I called,wastherenone to answer?

Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem?

Or have I no power to deliver?

# Indeed with Myrebuke I dry up the sea,

I make the rivers a wilderness;

Their fish stink becausethereisno water,

And die of thirst.

3 I clothe the heavens with blackness,

# And I make sackcloth their covering.”

4 “TheLordGodhas given Me

The tongue of the learned,

That I should know how to speak

# A word in season tohimwhoisweary.

He awakens Me morning by morning,

He awakens My ear

To hear as the learned.

5 The LordGodhas opened My ear;

# And I was notrebellious,

Nor did I turn away.

6 I gave My back to those who struckMe,

# AndMy cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;

# I did not hide My face from shame andspitting.

7 “For the LordGodwill help Me;

Therefore I will not be disgraced;

# ThereforeI have set My face like a flint,

And I know that I will not be ashamed.

8 Heisnear who justifies Me;

Who will contend with Me?

Let us stand together.

WhoisMy adversary?

Let him come near Me.

9 Surely the LordGodwill help Me;

Whoishewhowill condemn Me?

# Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;

# The moth will eat them up.

10 “Who among you fears theLord?

Who obeys the voice of His Servant?

# Whowalks in darkness

And has no light?

# Let him trust in the name of theLord

And rely upon his God.

11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,

Who encircleyourselveswith sparks:

Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled—

# This you shall have from My hand:

# You shall lie downin torment.

The Lord Comforts Zion

1 “Listen to Me,you who follow after righteousness,

You who seek theLord:

Look to the rockfromwhichyou were hewn,

And to the hole of the pitfromwhichyou were dug.

2 Look to Abraham your father,

And to Sarahwhobore you;

# For I called him alone,

# Andblessed him and increased him.”

3 For theLordwillcomfort Zion,

He will comfort all her waste places;

He will make her wilderness like Eden,

# And her desertlike the garden of theLord;

Joy and gladness will be found in it,

Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

4 “Listen to Me, My people;

And give ear to Me, O My nation:

# For law will proceed from Me,

And I will make My justice rest

# As a light of the peoples.

5 My righteousnessisnear,

My salvation has gone forth,

# And My arms will judge the peoples;

# The coastlands will wait upon Me,

# Andon My arm they will trust.

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

And look on the earth beneath.

# Forthe heavens will vanish away like smoke,

# The earth will grow old like a garment,

And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;

# But My salvation will beforever,

And My righteousness will not be abolished.

7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,

# You peoplein whose heartisMy law:

# Do not fear the reproach of men,

Nor be afraid of their insults.

8 Forthe moth will eat them up like a garment,

And the worm will eat them like wool;

But My righteousness will be forever,

And My salvation from generation to generation.”

9 Awake, awake,put on strength,

O arm of theLord!

# Awakeas in the ancient days,

In the generations of old.

# AreYou notthearmthat cutRahab apart,

# Andwounded theserpent?

10 AreYou nottheOnewhodried up the sea,

The waters of the great deep;

That made the depths of the sea a road

For the redeemed to cross over?

11 Sothe ransomed of theLordshall return,

And come to Zion with singing,

With everlasting joy on their heads.

They shall obtain joy and gladness;

Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12 “I,evenI,amHewho comforts you.

Whoareyou that you should be afraid

# Of a manwhowill die,

# And of the son of a manwhowill be madelike grass?

13 Andyou forget theLordyour Maker,

# Who stretched out the heavens

And laid the foundations of the earth;

You have feared continually every day

Because of the fury of the oppressor,

Whenhehasprepared to destroy.

# And whereisthe fury of the oppressor?

14 The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed,

# That he should not die in the pit,

And that his bread should not fail.

15 But IamtheLordyour God,

# Whodivided the sea whose waves roared—

TheLordof hostsisHis name.

16 AndI have put My words in your mouth;

# I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,

# That I may plant the heavens,

Lay the foundations of the earth,

And say to Zion, ‘YouareMy people.’ ”

God’s Fury Removed

17 Awake, awake!

Stand up, O Jerusalem,

# You whohave drunk at the hand of theLord

The cup of His fury;

You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling,

Anddraineditout.

18 Thereisno one to guide her

Among all the sons she has brought forth;

Noristhereanywho takes her by the hand

Among all the sons she has brought up.

19 These twothingshave come to you;

Who will be sorry for you?—

Desolation and destruction, famine and sword—

# By whom will I comfort you?

20 Your sons have fainted,

They lie at the head of all the streets,

Like an antelope in a net;

They are full of the fury of theLord,

The rebuke of your God.

21 Therefore please hear this, you afflicted,

# And drunkbut not with wine.

22 Thus says your Lord,

TheLordand your God,

# Whopleads the cause of His people:

“See, I have taken out of your hand

The cup of trembling,

The dregs of the cup of My fury;

You shall no longer drink it.

23 But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you,

Who have said to you,

‘Lie down, that we may walk over you.’

And you have laid your body like the ground,

And as the street, for those who walk over.”

God Redeems Jerusalem

1 Awake, awake!

Put on your strength, O Zion;

Put on your beautiful garments,

O Jerusalem, the holy city!

# For the uncircumcisedand the unclean

Shall no longer come to you.

2 Shake yourself from the dust, arise;

Sit down, O Jerusalem!

# Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,

O captive daughter of Zion!

3 For thus says theLord:

# “You have sold yourselves for nothing,

# And you shall be redeemedwithout money.”

4 For thus says the LordGod:

“My people went down at first

# IntoEgypt to dwell there;

Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

5 Now therefore, what have I here,” says theLord,

“That My people are taken away for nothing?

Those who rule over them

Make them wail,” says theLord,

# “And My nameisblasphemed continually every day.

6 Therefore My people shall know My name;

Thereforetheyshallknowin that day

That IamHe who speaks:

‘Behold,itisI.’ ”

7 How beautiful upon the mountains

Are the feet of him who brings good news,

Who proclaims peace,

Who brings glad tidings of goodthings,

Who proclaims salvation,

Who says to Zion,

# “Your God reigns!”

8 Your watchmen shall lift uptheirvoices,

With their voices they shall sing together;

For they shall see eye to eye

When theLordbrings back Zion.

9 Break forth into joy, sing together,

You waste places of Jerusalem!

For theLordhas comforted His people,

He has redeemed Jerusalem.

10 TheLordhas made bare His holy arm

# In the eyes ofall the nations;

And all the ends of the earth shall see

The salvation of our God.

11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there,

Touch no uncleanthing;

Go out from the midst of her,

# Be clean,

You who bear the vessels of theLord.

12 Foryou shall not go out with haste,

Nor go by flight;

# For theLordwill go before you,

# And the God of Israelwillbeyour rear guard.

The Sin-Bearing Servant

13 Behold,My Servant shall deal prudently;

# He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.

14 Just as many were astonished at you,

# So Hisvisage was marred more than any man,

And His form more than the sons of men;

15 So shall He sprinkle many nations.

Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;

# Forwhat had not been told them they shall see,

And what they had not heard they shall consider.

1 Whohas believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of theLordbeen revealed?

2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness;

And when we see Him,

Thereisno beauty that we should desire Him.

3 He is despised and rejected by men,

# A Man of sorrows andacquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were,ourfaces from Him;

# He was despised, andwe did not esteem Him.

4 SurelyHe has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But Hewaswounded for our transgressions,

Hewasbruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peacewasupon Him,

# And by Hisstripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And theLordhas laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

# YetHe opened not His mouth;

# He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

8 He wastaken from prison and from judgment,

And who will declare His generation?

# ForHe was cut off from the land of the living;

For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

9 And they made His grave with the wicked—

But with the rich at His death,

Because He had done no violence,

# Norwasanydeceit in His mouth.

10 Yet it pleased theLordto bruise Him;

He has putHimto grief.

# When You make His soulan offering for sin,

He shall seeHisseed, He shall prolongHisdays,

And the pleasure of theLordshall prosper in His hand.

11 He shall see the labor of His soul,andbe satisfied.

# By His knowledgeMy righteousServant shalljustify many,

For He shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,

# And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,

# Because Hepoured out His soul unto death,

# And He wasnumbered with the transgressors,

And He bore the sin of many,

# Andmade intercession for the transgressors.

A Perpetual Covenant of Peace

1 “Sing, Obarren,

Youwhohave not borne!

Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,

Youwhohave not labored with child!

For morearethe children of the desolate

Than the children of the married woman,” says theLord.

2 “Enlargethe place of your tent,

And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;

Do not spare;

Lengthen your cords,

And strengthen your stakes.

3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left,

# And your descendants willinherit the nations,

And make the desolate cities inhabited.

4 “Donot 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.

5 For your Makerisyour husband,

TheLordof hostsisHis name;

And your Redeemeristhe Holy One of Israel;

# He is calledthe God of the whole earth.

6 For theLordhas called you

Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,

Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”

Says your God.

7 “Fora mere moment I have forsaken you,

# But with great merciesI will gather you.

8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;

# But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”

Says theLord, your Redeemer.

9 “For thisislike the waters ofNoah 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 withyou, nor rebuke you.

10 Forthe 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 theLord, who has mercy on you.

11 “O you afflicted one,

Tossed with tempest,andnot comforted,

# Behold, I will lay your stones withcolorful gems,

And lay your foundations with sapphires.

12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,

Your gates of crystal,

And all your walls of precious stones.

13 All your childrenshallbetaught by theLord,

# Andgreatshallbethe peace of your children.

14 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.

15 Indeed they shall surely assemble,butnot because of Me.

# Whoever assembles against you shallfall for your sake.

16 “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.

17 No weapon formed against you shallprosper,

And every tonguewhichrises against you in judgment

You shall condemn.

Thisisthe heritage of the servants of theLord,

# And their righteousnessisfrom Me,”

Says theLord.

An Invitation to Abundant Life

1 “Ho!Everyone who thirsts,

Come to the waters;

And you who have no money,

# Come, buy and eat.

Yes, come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without price.

2 Why do you spend money forwhatisnot bread,

And your wages forwhatdoes not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eatwhatisgood,

And let your soul delight itself in abundance.

3 Incline your ear, andcome to Me.

Hear, and your soul shall live;

# And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—

# Thesure mercies of David.

4 Indeed I have given himasa witness to the people,

# A leader and commander for the people.

5 Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,

# And nationswhodo not know you shall run to you,

Because of theLordyour God,

And the Holy One of Israel;

# For He has glorified you.”

6 Seek theLordwhile He may befound,

Call upon Him while He is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way,

# And the unrighteous manhis thoughts;

Let him return to theLord,

# And He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

8 “ForMy thoughtsarenot your thoughts,

Norareyour ways My ways,” says theLord.

9 “Forasthe heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “Foras the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

# And it shallprosperinthethingfor which I sent it.

12 “Foryou shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

# Shallbreak forth into singing before you,

# Andall the trees of the field shall claptheirhands.

13 Instead ofthe thorn shall come up the cypress tree,

And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;

# And it shall be to theLordfor a name,

For an everlasting signthatshall not be cut off.”