Study Desk

Foreigners will build up your walls,^(r) and their kings will serve you.^(s) Although I struck you in My wrath, yet I will show mercy to you with My favor.^(t)

Your gates will always be open; they will never be shut day or night so that the wealth of the nations may be brought into you,^(u) with their kings being led in procession.

For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve you will perish; those nations will be annihilated.^(v)

The glory of Lebanon will come to you^(w)— its pine, fir, and cypress together^(x)— to beautify the place of My sanctuary, and I will glorify My dwelling place.^[d]

The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you;^(y) all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet.^(z) They will call you the City of the Lord , Zion of the Holy One of Israel.^(aa)

Instead of your being deserted and hated, with no one passing through,^(ab) I will make you an object of eternal pride,^(ac) a joy from age to age.

You will nurse on the milk of nations, and nurse at the breast of kings;^(ad) you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior^(ae) and Redeemer,^(af) the Mighty One of Jacob.^(ag)

I will bring gold instead of bronze; I will bring silver instead of iron, bronze instead of wood, and iron instead of stones. I will appoint peace as your guard and righteousness as your ruler.

Violence will never again be heard of in your land;^(ah) devastation and destruction will be gone from your borders. But you will name your walls salvation^(ai) and your gates, praise.

The sun will no longer be your light by day, and the brightness of the moon will not shine on you; but the Lord will be your everlasting light,^(aj) and your God will be your splendor.

Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not fade; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your sorrow will be over.^(ak)

Then all your people will be righteous;^(al) they will possess the land forever;^(am) they are the branch I planted, the work of My^[e] hands, so that I may be glorified.^(an)

The least will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am Yahweh; I will accomplish it quickly in its time.

The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me,^(a) because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor.^(b) He has sent Me to heal^[a] the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners;^(c)

to proclaim the year of the Lord 's favor,^(d) and the day of our God's vengeance;^(e) to comfort^(f) all who mourn,

to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning,^(g) and splendid clothes instead of despair.^[b] And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify Him.^(h)

They will rebuild the ancient ruins;⁽ⁱ⁾ they will restore the former devastations; they will renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.^(j)

But you will be called the Lord 's priests;^(k) they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their riches.

Because your shame was double,^(l) and they cried out, "Disgrace is their portion," therefore, they will possess double in their land,^(m) and eternal joy will be theirs.

For I Yahweh love justice;⁽ⁿ⁾ I hate robbery and injustice;^[c] I will faithfully reward them and make an everlasting covenant^(o) with them.

Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their posterity among the peoples. All who see them will recognize that they are a people the Lord has blessed.

I greatly rejoice in the Lord , I exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,^(p) as a groom wears a turban and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.^(q)

For as the earth produces its growth, and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.^(r)

I will not keep silent because of Zion, and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem,^(a) until her righteousness shines like a bright light^(b) and her salvation, like a flaming torch.

Nations will see your righteousness^(c) and all kings, your glory. You will be called by a new name that the Lord 's mouth will announce.^(d)

You will be a glorious crown in the Lord 's hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God.^(e)

You will no longer be called Deserted,^(f) and your land will not be called Desolate; instead, you will be called My Delight is in Her,^[a] and your land Married;^[b](g) for the Lord delights in you, and your land will be married.

For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a groom rejoices^[c] over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.^(h)

Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen on your walls;⁽ⁱ⁾ they will never be silent, day or night. There is no rest for you, who remind the Lord .

Do not give Him rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth.^(j)

The Lord has sworn with His right hand and His strong arm: I will no longer give your grain to your enemies for food,^(k) and foreigners will not drink your new wine you have labored for.

For those who gather grain will eat it and praise the Lord , and those who harvest the grapes will drink the wine in My holy courts.

Go out, go out through the gates; prepare a way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway;^(l) clear away the stones! Raise a banner for the peoples.^(m)

Look, the Lord has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, "Say to Daughter Zion:⁽ⁿ⁾ Look, your salvation is coming, His reward is with Him,^(o) and His gifts accompany Him."

And they will be called^[d] the Holy People,^(p) the Lord 's Redeemed; and you will be called Cared For, A City Not Deserted.

Who is this coming from Edom^(a) in crimson-stained garments from Bozrah— this One who is splendid in His apparel, rising up proudly^[a] in His great might? It is I, proclaiming vindication,^[b] powerful to save.

Why are Your clothes red, and Your garments like one who treads a winepress?^(b)

I trampled the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and ground them underfoot in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained.

For I planned the day of vengeance,^[c](c) and the year of My redemption^[d] came.

I looked, but there was no one to help,^(d) and I was amazed that no one assisted; so My arm accomplished victory for Me, and My wrath assisted Me.

I crushed nations in My anger; I made them drunk with My wrath^(e) and poured out their blood on the ground.^(f)

I will make known the Lord 's faithful love and the Lord 's praiseworthy acts, because of all the Lord has done for us— even the many good things He has done for the house of Israel and has done for them based on His compassion and the abundance of His faithful love.

He said, "They are indeed My people, children who will not be disloyal," and He became their Savior.

In all their suffering, He suffered,^[e](g) and the Angel of His Presence saved them. He redeemed them because of His love and compassion;^(h) He lifted them up and carried them all the days of the past.⁽ⁱ⁾

But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit.^(j) So He became their enemy and fought against them.

Then He^[f] remembered the days of the past, the days of Moses and his people. Where is He who brought them out of the sea with the shepherds^[g] of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit among the flock?

He sent His glorious arm to be at Moses' right hand, divided the waters before them^(k) to obtain eternal fame for Himself,

and led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble.

Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them^[h] rest. You led Your people this way to make a glorious name for Yourself.

Look down from heaven and see^(l) from Your lofty home—holy and beautiful. Where is Your zeal and Your might? Your yearning^[i] and Your compassion are withheld from me.

Yet You are our Father, even though Abraham does not know us and Israel doesn't recognize us. You, Yahweh, are our Father; from ancient times, Your name is our Redeemer.^(m)

Why, Yahweh, do You make us stray from Your ways? You harden our hearts so we do not fear^[j] You.⁽ⁿ⁾ Return, because of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.

Your holy people had a possession^[k] for a little while, but our enemies have trampled down Your sanctuary.^(o)

We have become like those You never ruled over, like those not called by Your name.^(p)

^[a]If only You would tear the heavens open and come down,^(a) so that mountains would quake at Your presence^(b)—

^[b]as fire kindles the brushwood, and fire causes water to boil— to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that nations will tremble at Your presence!

When You did awesome works^(c) that we did not expect, You came down,^(d) and the mountains quaked at Your presence.

From ancient times no one has heard, no one has listened, no eye has seen any God except You, who acts on behalf of the one who waits for Him.^(e)

You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right; they remember You in Your ways. But we have sinned, and You were angry. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?^[c]

All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted^[d] garment;^(f) all of us wither like a leaf,^(g) and our iniquities^(h) carry us away like the wind.

No one calls on Your name, striving to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us⁽ⁱ⁾ and made us melt because of^[e][f] our iniquity.

Yet Lord , You are our Father;^(j) we are the clay, and You are our potter; we all are the work of Your hands.^(k)

Lord , do not be terribly angry or remember our iniquity forever.^(l) Please look—all of us are Your people!

Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.^(m)

Our holy and beautiful^[g] temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.⁽ⁿ⁾

Lord , after all this, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict severely?^(o)

"I was sought by those who did not ask;^[a] I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said: Here I am, here I am, to a nation that was not called by^[b] My name.^(a)

I spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people^(b) who walk in the wrong path, following their own thoughts.

These people continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in gardens,^(c) burning incense on bricks,

sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs,^(d) and putting polluted broth in their bowls.^[c]

They say, ‘Keep to yourself, don't come near me, for I am too holy for you!' These practices are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.

It is written before Me: I will not keep silent,^(e) but I will repay;^(f) I will repay them fully^[d]

for your iniquities and the iniquities^(g) of your^[e] fathers together," says the Lord . "Because they burned incense on the mountains and reproached Me on the hills,^(h) I will reward them fully^[f] for their former deeds."

The Lord says this: As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes, and one says, ‘Don't destroy it, for there's some good^[g] in it,' so I will act because of My servants and not destroy them all.

I will produce descendants from Jacob,⁽ⁱ⁾ and heirs to My mountains from Judah; My chosen^(j) ones will possess it, and My servants will dwell there.^(k)

Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,^(l) and the Valley of Achor a place for cattle to lie down,^(m) for My people who have sought Me.⁽ⁿ⁾

But you who abandon the Lord , who forget My holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,^[h]

I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear; you did what was evil in My sight and chose what I did not delight in.^(o)

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: My servants will eat, but you will be hungry; My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.

My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart, but you will cry out from an anguished heart, and you will lament out of a broken spirit.

You will leave your name behind as a curse for My chosen ones,^(p) and the Lord God will kill you; but He will give His servants another name.^(q)

Whoever is blessed in the land will be blessed by the God of truth,^(r) and whoever swears in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My sight.

"For I will create a new heaven and a new earth;^(s) the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.

Then be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.

I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people. The sound of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.^(t)

In her, a nursing infant will no longer live only a few days,^[i] or an old man not live out his days. Indeed, the youth will die at a hundred years, and the one who misses a hundred years will be cursed.^(u)

People will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.^(v)

They will not build and others live in them; they will not plant and others eat. For My people's lives will be like the lifetime of a tree.^(w) My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.

They will not labor without success^(x) or bear children destined for disaster, for they will be a people blessed by the Lord along with their descendants.^(y)

Even before they call, I will answer;^(z) while they are still speaking, I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,^[j] and the lion will eat straw like the ox,^(aa) but the serpent's food will be dust!^(ab) They will not do what is evil or destroy on My entire holy mountain,"^(ac) says the Lord .