Study Desk

Call out for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Call out for joy, you deep places of the earth. Break out into singing, you mountains and every tree. For the Lord has bought Jacob and set him free and has shown His shining-greatness in Israel!

I make the word of My servant sure, and act upon the words of the men who speak for Me. It is I Who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will have people living in her,' and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built.' And I will build her up again.

For the good of Jacob My servant and Israel My chosen one, I called you by your name. I gave you a name of honor, when you had not known Me.

"It is bad for the one who works against His Maker. He is just a clay pot among the other pots of earth. Will the clay say to the pot-maker, ‘What are you doing?' or, your work say, ‘He has no hands'?

It is bad for him who says to his father, ‘To what are you giving life?' or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?'"

The Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, says, "Will you ask Me about the things to come for My children? Will you tell Me about the work of My hands?

The Lord says, "The riches of Egypt and the good things of Cush and the tall Sabeans will come over to you and be yours. They will walk behind you in chains and bow down to you. They will beg you, saying, ‘For sure God is with you, and there is no other God. There is none other.'"

Israel has been saved forever by the Lord. You will never be put to shame for all time.

This is what the Lord Who made the heavens, the God Who planned and made the earth, and everything in it and did not make it a waste place, but made it a place for people to live in, says, "I am the Lord, and there is no other.

I have not spoken in secret in some dark land. I did not say to the children of Jacob, ‘Look for Me for nothing.' I the Lord speak the truth. I say what is right.

Make your need known. Yes, let them talk it over together. Who said this would happen from long ago? Who has been saying it for a long time? Is it not I, the Lord? There is no other God besides Me, a God Who is right and good, a God Who saves. There is none except Me.

Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.

The false gods, Bel and Nebo, bow down. Their objects of worship were put on animals and cattle and the wagons had heavy loads making it hard for the tired animals.

Remember the things of long ago. For I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is no one like Me.

"Come down and sit in the dust, O pure daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O people of the Babylonians. For you will no longer be called soft and gentle.

"Sit and be quiet, and go into darkness, O people of the Babylonians. For you will no more be called the queen of nations.

You trusted in your sin and said, ‘No one sees me.' Your wisdom and learning have led you the wrong way, for you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.'

Much trouble will come upon you, and you will not know how to get away from it. Trouble will fall on you, and there will be no way for you to pay that it might go away. You will not know it but all at once you will be destroyed.

See, they have become like dry grass. Fire burns them. They cannot take themselves away from the power of the fire. This is no fire for making one warm, or fire to sit by!

For they call themselves people of the holy city, and trust in the God of Israel. The Lord of All is His name.