“Comfort, comfort My people!” says your Elohim.  “Speak to the heart of Yerushalayim, and cry out to her, that her hard service is completed, that her crookedness is pardoned, that she has received from the hand of יהוה double for all her sins.” The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of יהוה; make straight in the desert a highway for our Elohim.  “Let every valley be raised, and every mountain and hill made low. And the steep ground shall become level, and the rough places smooth. “And the esteem of יהוה shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see it. For the mouth of יהוה has spoken.”  The voice said, “Cry out!” and he said, “What do I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. “Grass shall wither, the flower shall fade, when the Spirit of יהוה has blown on it! Truly the people is grass! “Grass shall wither, the flower shall fade, but the Word of our Elohim stands forever.”  You who bring good news to Tsiyon, get up into the high mountain. You who bring good news to Yerushalayim, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid. Say to the cities of Yehuḏah, “See your Elohim!”  See, the Master יהוה comes with a strong hand, and His arm rules for Him. See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.  He feeds His flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs with His arm, and carries them in His bosom, gently leading those who are with young.  Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and measured the heavens with a span, and contained the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has meted out the Spirit of יהוה, or as His counsellor taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of right-ruling? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?  See, nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are reckoned as dust on the balance. See, He lifts up isles as fine dust.  And Leḇanon is not enough to burn, nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.  All nations before Him are as a non-entity, and they are reckoned by Him as less than a speck, and emptiness.  And to whom would you liken Ěl? And what likeness would you compare to Him The workman moulds a graven image, and the goldsmith overspreads it with gold, and the silversmith casts silver chains.  He who is too poor for such an offering chooses a tree that does not rot. He seeks for himself a skilled craftsman to prepare a carved image that does not totter.  Did 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?  It 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 dwell in,  who brings princes to naught, shall make the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Hardly have they been planted, hardly have they been sown, hardly has their stock taken root in the earth, when He shall blow on them and they wither, and a whirlwind take them away like stubble.  “And to whom then do you liken Me, or to whom am I compared?” says the Set-apart One.  Lift up your eyes on high and see. Who has created these? He who is bringing out their host by number, He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power – not one is missing.  Why do you say, O Yaʽaqoḇ, and speak, O Yisra’ĕl, “My way is hidden from יהוה, and my rights are overlooked by my Elohim”?  Did you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting Elohim, יהוה, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint, and to those who have no might He increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men stumble and fall,  but those who wait on יהוה renew their strength, they raise up the wing like eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk and do not faint.

 “Be silent before Me, you coastlands, and let peoples renew their power! Let them come near, then let them speak. Let us come together for right-ruling. “Who raised up the righteous one from the east, called him to His foot, gave the nations before him, and made sovereigns submit to him? He gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow.“He pursued them, passed over in safety, by a path that he had not gone with his feet“Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, יהוה, am the first, and with the last I am He.’ Coastlands see it and fear, the ends of the earth are afraid – they draw near and come.  Everyone helps his neighbour, and says to his brother, “Be strong!”And the craftsman encourages the goldsmith. He who smooths with the hammer inspires him who strikes the anvil, saying of the joining, “It is good.” And he fastens it with nails, so it does not totter. “But you, Yisra’ĕl, are My servant, Yaʽaqoḇ, whom I have chosen, the descendants of Aḇraham My friend  whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest parts, and said to You, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not rejected you. ‘Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not look around, for I am your Elohim. I shall strengthen you, I shall also help you, I shall also uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.’  “See, all those who raged against you are ashamed and blush, they are as non-existent. And the men who strive with you perish.  “You seek them but do not find them, those who struggle with you. Those who fight you are as non-existent, as naught.  “For I, יהוה your Elohim, am holding your right hand, saying to you, ‘Do not fear, I shall help you.’

“Do not fear, you worm Yaʽaqoḇ, you men of Yisra’ĕl! I shall help you,” declares יהוה and your Redeemer, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl.  “See, I shall make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth, let you thresh mountains and beat them small, and make hills like chaff. “You winnow them, the wind lifts them up, and the whirlwind scatters them; but you, you rejoice in יהוה, and boast in the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl.“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongues have failed for thirst, I, יהוה, do answer them; I, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, do not forsake them.  “I open rivers on bare hills, and fountains in the midst of valleys; I make a wilderness become a pool of water, and a dry land springs of water. “I set in the wilderness cedar, acacia and myrtle and oil tree; I place in the desert cypress, pine and box tree together.  “So that they see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of יהוה has done this, and the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl has created it. “Present your case,” says יהוה. “Let your strong ones come near,” says the Sovereign of Yaʽaqoḇ.  “Let them draw near and declare to us what is going to take place; let them declare the former events, what they were, and we consider them, and know the latter end of them; or announce to us what is coming.  “Declare the events that are going to come hereafter, and we know that you are mighty ones; yea, do good or do evil, and let us be amazed and see it together.  “See, you are of naught, and your work a breath; he who chooses you is an abomination.  “I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes; from the rising of the sun he calls on My Name. And he comes against princes as though mortar, as the potter treads clay.  “Who has declared from the beginning, and we know? and former times, and we say, ‘He is righteous’? No, no one is declaring; no, no one is proclaiming; no, no one is hearing your words.  “He who is First said to Tsiyon, ‘See, see them!’ And to Yerushalayim I give one who brings good news.  “And I see that there is no man, and of these, there is no counsellor, who, when I ask of them, answers a word “See, all of them are useless, their works are naught, their moulded images are wind and confusion.  “See, My Servant whom I uphold, My Chosen One My being has delighted in! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He brings forth right-ruling to the nations. “He does not cry out, nor lifts up His voice, nor causes His voice to be heard in the street.  “A crushed reed He does not break, and smoking flax He does not quench. He brings forth right-ruling in accordance with truth. “He does not become weak or crushed, until He has established right-ruling in the earth. And the coastlands wait for His Torah.” Thus said the Ěl, יהוה, 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, יהוה, have called You in righteousness, and I take hold of Your hand and guard You, and give You for a covenant to a people, for 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 יהוה, that is My Name, and My esteem I do not give to another, nor My praise to idols.  “See, the former predictions have come, and new ones I am declaring; before they spring forth I let you hear them. Sing to יהוה a new song; 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 where Qĕḏar dwells. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give esteem to יהוה, and declare His praise in the coastlands.  יהוה goes forth like a mighty man. He stirs up ardour like a fighter. He cries out, yea, shout aloud. Over His enemies He shows Himself mighty.  “I have kept silent from of old, I have been still and held Myself back. Like a woman in labour I now cry out, I pant and gasp at once. “I lay waste mountains and hills, and I dry up all their plants. And I shall make rivers become coastlands, and I dry up pools.  “And I shall lead the blind by a way they have not known – in paths they have not known I lead them. I make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These matters I shall do for them, and I shall not forsake them.  “Those who trust in idols, who say to the moulded images, ‘You are our mighty ones,’ shall be turned back, utterly ashamed.  “Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, and see.  “Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is at peace, and blind as servant of יהוה?  “You see much, but do not observe; ears are open, but do not hear.”  It has delighted יהוה, for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and esteemed.  But this is a people robbed and plundered, all of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses. They have become a prey, with no one to deliver – for plunder, and no one to say, “Restore!”  Who among you gives ear to this, pays attention and hears for the time to come? Who gave Yaʽaqoḇ for plunder, and Yisra’ĕl to the robbers? Was it not יהוה, He against whom we sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, and they did not obey His Torah!  So He has poured on him His burning displeasure and the strength of battle, and it set him on fire all around, yet he did not understand. And it burned against him, yet he did not take it to heart!  But now, thus said יהוה, your Creator, O Yaʽaqoḇ, and He who formed you, O Yisra’ĕl, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name, you are Mine. “When you pass through the waters, I am with you; and through rivers, they do not overflow you. When you walk through fire, you are not scorched, and a flame does not burn you. “For I am יהוה your Elohim, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl, your Saviour; I gave Mitsrayim for your ransom, Kush and Seḇa in your place.  “Since you were precious in My eyes, you have been esteemed, and I have loved you. And I give men in your place, and peoples for your life.  “Do not fear, for I am with you. I shall bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west.  “I shall say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth –  all those who are called by My Name, whom I have created, formed, even made for My esteem.”  He shall bring out a blind people who have eyes, and deaf ones who have ears.  All the nations shall be assembled, and the peoples be gathered. Who among them declares this, and show us former events? Let them give their witnesses, to be declared right; or let them hear and say, “It is truth.” “You are My witnesses,” declares יהוה, “And My servant whom I have chosen, so that you know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no Ěl formed, nor after Me there is none.  “I, I am יהוה, and besides Me there is no saviour.  “I, I have declared and saved, and made known, and there was no foreign mighty one among you. And you are My witnesses,” declares יהוה, “that I am Ěl.  “Even from the day I am He, and no one delivers out of My hand. I work, and who turns it back?”  Thus said יהוה, your Redeemer, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl, “For your sake I shall send to Baḇel, and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.  “I am יהוה, your Set-apart One, Creator of Yisra’ĕl, your Sovereign.” Thus said יהוה, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters who brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power (they lie down together, they do not rise, they have been extinguished, they have been quenched like a wick):

 “Do not remember the former events, nor consider the events of old.  “See, I am doing what is new, let it now spring forth. Do you not know it? I am even making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  “The beast of the field esteems Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I have given waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen, this people I have formed for Myself, let them relate My praise.  “But you have not called on Me, O Yaʽaqoḇ, for you have been weary of Me, O Yisra’ĕl. “You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, nor have you esteemed Me with your slaughterings. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, nor wearied you with incense. “You have not bought Me sweet cane with silver, nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your slaughterings. You have only burdened Me with your sins, you have wearied Me with your crookednesses “I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and remember your sins no more  “Remind Me, let us enter into judgment, together; relate, that you might be declared right “Your first father sinned, and your interpreters have transgressed against Me. “So I have profaned the chief ones of the set-apart place, and I have delivered up Yaʽaqoḇ to the curse, and Yisra’ĕl to scorn.   “But now hear, O Yaʽaqoḇ My servant, and Yisra’ĕl whom I have chosen.  Thus said יהוה who made you and formed you from the womb, who helps you, ‘Do not fear, O Yaʽaqoḇ My servant, and Yeshurun, whom I have chosen.  ‘For I pour water on the thirsty, and floods on the dry ground. I pour My Spirit on your seed, and My blessing on your offspring, and they shall spring up among the grass like willows by streams of water.’ “One says, ‘I belong to יהוה; another calls himself by the name of Yaʽaqoḇ; another writes with his hand, ‘Unto יהוה,’ and names himself by the name of Yisra’ĕl. Thus said יהוה, Sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, and his Redeemer, יהוה of hosts, ‘I am the First and I am the Last, besides Me there is no Elohim.‘And who is like Me? Let him call and declare it, and lay it before Me, since I appointed the everlasting people. And the events that are coming and those that do come, let them declare these to them. ‘Do not fear, nor be afraid. Have I not since made you hear, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there an Eloah besides Me? There is no other Rock, I know not one.’ ” Those who make an idol, all of them are emptiness, and their delights do not profit. And they are their own witnesses; they neither see nor know, so that they are put to shame.  Who would form a mighty one or cast an idol that is of no value?  See, all his companions are ashamed, and the workmen, they are but men. Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up, let them fear, let them be put to shame, altogether.  The craftsman in iron with the tools works one in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he shall be hungry, and has no strength; he drinks no water and is weary.  The carpenter stretches out his rule, he outlines it with chalk; he fashions it with a plane, and he outlines it with the compass, and makes it like the figure of a man, according to the comeliness of a man, to remain in the house.  He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes cypress and oak, which he raised among the trees of the forest. He has planted a pine, and the rain nourishes it. And it shall be for a man to burn, for he takes some of it and warms himself. He also kindles it and shall bake bread. He also makes a mighty one and bows himself to it – has made it a carved image and falls down before it.Half of it he shall burn in the fire; with this half he eats meat. He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.” And the rest of it he makes into a mighty one, his carved image. He falls down before it and worships, prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my mighty one.”  They do not know nor understand, for He has smeared their eyes from seeing, and their hearts from understanding.  And no one recalls it to his heart, nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, and I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Should I fall down before a log of wood?” Feeding on ashes, a deceived heart turns him aside, and he does not deliver his being, nor says, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” “Remember these matters, O Yaʽaqoḇ, and Yisra’ĕl, for you are My servant! I have formed you, you are My servant, O Yisra’ĕl, do not forget Me!

“I shall wipe out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I shall redeem you.”  Sing, O heavens, for יהוה shall do it! Shout, O depths of the earth! Break forth into singing, O mountains, forest, and every tree in it! For יהוה shall redeem Yaʽaqoḇ, and make Himself clear in Yisra’ĕl.  Thus said יהוה, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb, “I am יהוה, doing all, stretching out the heavens all alone, spreading out the earth, with none beside Me,

 frustrating the signs of the babblers, and driving diviners mad, turning wise men backward, and making their knowledge foolish,  confirming the word of His servant, and completing the counsel of His messengers, who says of Yerushalayim, ‘Be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Yehuḏah, ‘They shall be built, and her ruins raised up by Me,’  who is saying to the deep, ‘Be dry, and your rivers I dry up,’  who is saying of Koresh, ‘He is My shepherd, and he completes all My pleasure, even saying to Yerushalayim, “Let her be built,” and to the Hĕḵal, “Let her foundation be laid.  “Thus said יהוה to His anointed, to Koresh, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and ungird the loins of sovereigns, to open before him the double doors, so that gates are not shut:  ‘I go before you and make the crooked places straight; I shatter the gates of bronze and cut down the bars of iron. ‘And I shall give you the treasures of darkness and hoarded wealth of secret places, so that you know that I, יהוה, who are calling you by your name, am the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl.  ‘For the sake of Yaʽaqoḇ My servant, and of Yisra’ĕl My chosen, I also call you by your name, I give you a title, though you have not known M ‘I am יהוה, and there is none else – there is no Elohim besides Me. I gird you, though you have not known Me,  so that they know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none but Me. I am יהוה, and there is none else,  forming light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil. I, יהוה, do all these.“Rain down, O heavens, from above, and let clouds pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, let them bring forth deliverance, and let righteousness spring up together. I, יהוה, have created it. “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! (a potsherd with the potsherds of the earth). Does clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?  “Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you bringing forth?’ Or to the woman, ‘What are you labouring over?’ ” Thus said יהוה, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl, and his Maker, “Do you ask Me about My sons what is to come? And about the work of My hands do you command Me? “I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded.  “I have stirred him up in righteousness, and all his ways I make straight. He builds My city and lets My exiles go, not for price nor reward,” declares יהוה of hosts.  Thus said יהוה, “The labour of Mitsrayim and merchandise of Kush and of the Seḇaites, men of size, come over to you and they are yours. They walk behind you, they come over in chains, and they bow down to you. They make supplication to you, saying, ‘Indeed, Ěl is in you, and there is none else, no mighty one.’ ”  Truly You are Ěl, who hide Yourself, O Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, Saviour!  They shall be put to shame, and even be humiliated, all of them – the makers of idols shall go away together in humiliation.Yisra’ĕl shall be saved by יהוה with an everlasting deliverance. You are not to be ashamed nor hurt, forever and ever.  For thus said יהוה, Creator of the heavens, He is Elohim, Former of earth and its Maker, He established it, He did not create it to be empty, He formed it to be inhabited: “I am יהוה, and there is none else “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth. I have not said to the seed of Yaʽaqoḇ, ‘Seek Me in vain.’ I am יהוה, speaking righteousness, declaring matters that are straight.  “Gather yourselves and come; draw near together, you who have escaped from the gentiles. No knowledge have they who are lifting up the wood of their carved image, and pray to a mighty one that does not save.  “Declare and bring near, let them even take counsel together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has declared it from that time? Is it not I, יהוה? And there is no mighty one besides Me, a righteous Ěl and a Saviour, there is none besides Me.  “Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am Ěl, and there is none else.  “I have sworn by Myself, a word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, so that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue swear.  “One shall say, ‘Only in יהוה do I have righteousness and strength’ – he comes to Him. And all those displeased with Him shall be put to shame.  “In יהוה all the seed of Yisra’ĕl shall be declared right and boast. ”  Bĕl has bowed down, Neḇo is stooping, their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle. That which is carried is burdensome, a burden to the weary.  They have stooped, they have bowed down together, they were unable to deliver the burden, but they themselves went into captivity.  “Listen to Me, O house of Yaʽaqoḇ, and all the remnant of the house of Yisra’ĕl, who are borne from the belly, who are carried from the womb: even to your old age, I am He, and even to grey hairs I carry! I have made and I bear, and I carry and rescue.  “To whom do you liken Me, and compare Me and make Me similar, that we should be alike?“They pour gold out of the bag, and weigh silver on the scale. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a mighty one. They fall down, they also bow themselves. “They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it and set it in its place, and it stands – from its place it does not move. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer, nor save him from his distress.  “Remember this, and show yourselves men; turn it back, you transgressors. “Remember the former events of old, for I am Ěl, and there is no one else – Elohim, and there is no one like Me,  declaring the end from the beginning, and from of old that which has not yet been done, saying, ‘My counsel does stand, and all My delight I do,’  calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a distant land. Indeed I have spoken it, I also bring it to pass. I have planned it, I also do it.  “Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness:  “I shall bring My righteousness near, it is not far off, and My deliverance, it is not delayed. And I shall give deliverance in Tsiyon, My esteem to Yisra’ĕl.  “Come down and sit in the dust, O maiden daughter of Baḇel. Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For no more do they call you tender and delicate.  “Take the millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, lift up the skirt, uncover the leg, pass through rivers.  “Let your nakedness be uncovered, let your shame also be exposed. I take vengeance, and meet no man.”  Our Redeemer, יהוה of hosts is His Name, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl. “Sit silent, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For no more do they call you Mistress of Reigns.  “I was wroth with My people, I have profaned My inheritance and I gave them into your hand. You showed them no compassion, you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.

“And you said, ‘I am mistress forever,’ so that you did not take these matters to heart, and did not remember the latter end of them.  “And now, hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who dwells complacently, who says in your heart, ‘I am, and there is none but me. I do not sit as a widow, nor do I know the loss of children.’ “Both of these come to you suddenly, in one day: the loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in completeness, because of your many witchcrafts, for your numerous great potent spells.  “And you have trusted in your evil, you have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and your knowledge have led you astray. And you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is none but me.’  “But evil shall come upon you, you not knowing from where it arises, and trouble fall upon you, you being unable to put it off, and ruin come upon you suddenly, which you know not.  “Stand now with your potent spells and your many witchcrafts, in which you have laboured from your youth, if so be you are able to profit, if so be you find strength. “You are exhausted by your many counsels; let the astrologers, the stargazers, and those who prognosticate by the new moons stand up and save you from what is coming upon you.“See, they shall be as stubble, fire shall burn them, they do not deliver themselves from the power of the flame, there is not a coal to be warmed by, nor a fire to sit before it!  “So they shall be to you with whom you have laboured, your merchants from your youth. They shall wander, each one his own way, there is none to save you  “Hear this, O house of Yaʽaqoḇ, who are called by the name of Yisra’ĕl, and have come from the waters of Yehuḏah, who swear by the Name of יהוה, and profess the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl – though not in truth or in righteousness –  for they call themselves after the set-apart city, and lean on the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl – יהוה of hosts is His Name:  “I have declared the former events from the beginning, and they went forth from My mouth, and I made you hear them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to be. “Because I knew