⁴ Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows^[a] that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and treated harshly,
    yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
    And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
    he did not open his mouth.
⁸ Unjustly condemned,
    he was led away.^[b]
No one cared that he died without descendants,
    that his life was cut short in midstream.^[c]
But he was struck down
    for the rebellion of my people.
⁹ He had done no wrong
    and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
    he was put in a rich man’s grave.

¹⁰ But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
    and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
    he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
    and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
¹¹ When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
    he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
    my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
    for he will bear all their sins.
¹² I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
    because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
    He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

³ The Lord will comfort Israel^[a] again
    and have pity on her ruins.
Her desert will blossom like Eden,
    her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found there.
    Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.

⁴ “Listen to me, my people.
    Hear me, Israel,
for my law will be proclaimed,
    and my justice will become a light to the nations.
⁵ My mercy and justice are coming soon.
    My salvation is on the way.
    My strong arm will bring justice to the nations.
All distant lands will look to me
    and wait in hope for my powerful arm.
⁶ Look up to the skies above,
    and gaze down on the earth below.
For the skies will disappear like smoke,
    and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing.
The people of the earth will die like flies,
    but my salvation lasts forever.
    My righteous rule will never end!

⁷ “Listen to me, you who know right from wrong,
    you who cherish my law in your hearts.
Do not be afraid of people’s scorn,
    nor fear their insults.
⁸ For the moth will devour them as it devours clothing.
    The worm will eat at them as it eats wool.
But my righteousness will last forever.
    My salvation will continue from generation to generation.”

⁹ Wake up, wake up, O Lord! Clothe yourself with strength!
    Flex your mighty right arm!
Rouse yourself as in the days of old
    when you slew Egypt, the dragon of the Nile.^[b]
10 Are you not the same today,
    the one who dried up the sea,
making a path of escape through the depths
    so that your people could cross over?
¹¹ Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
    They will enter Jerusalem^[c] singing,
    crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
    and they will be filled with joy and gladness.

¹² “I, yes I, am the one who comforts you.
    So why are you afraid of mere humans,
    who wither like the grass and disappear?
¹³ Yet you have forgotten the Lord, your Creator,
    the one who stretched out the sky like a canopy
    and laid the foundations of the earth.
Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors?
    Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies?
Where is their fury and anger now?
    It is gone!
¹⁴ Soon all you captives will be released!
    Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate!
¹⁵ For I am the Lord your God,
    who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar.
    My name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
¹⁶ And I have put my words in your mouth
    and hidden you safely in my hand.
I stretched out^[d] the sky like a canopy
    and laid the foundations of the earth.
I am the one who says to Israel,
    ‘You are my people!’”

¹⁷ Wake up, wake up, O Jerusalem!
    You have drunk the cup of the Lord’s fury.
You have drunk the cup of terror,
    tipping out its last drops.
¹⁸ Not one of your children is left alive
    to take your hand and guide you.
¹⁹ These two calamities have fallen on you:
    desolation and destruction, famine and war.
And who is left to sympathize with you?
    Who is left to comfort you?^[e]
20 For your children have fainted and lie in the streets,
    helpless as antelopes caught in a net.
The Lord has poured out his fury;
    God has rebuked them.

²¹ But now listen to this, you afflicted ones
    who sit in a drunken stupor,
    though not from drinking wine.
²² This is what the Sovereign Lord,
    your God and Defender, says:
“See, I have taken the terrible cup from your hands.
    You will drink no more of my fury.
²³ Instead, I will hand that cup to your tormentors,
    those who said, ‘We will trample you into the dust
    and walk on your backs.’”

⁵ Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will himself be Israel’s glorious crown.
He will be the pride and joy
    of the remnant of his people.
⁶ He will give a longing for justice
    to their judges.
He will give great courage
    to their warriors who stand at the gates.

⁷ Now, however, Israel is led by drunks
    who reel with wine and stagger with alcohol.
The priests and prophets stagger with alcohol
    and lose themselves in wine.
They reel when they see visions
    and stagger as they render decisions.
⁸ Their tables are covered with vomit;
    filth is everywhere.
⁹ “Who does the Lord think we are?” they ask.
    “Why does he speak to us like this?
Are we little children,
    just recently weaned?
¹⁰ He tells us everything over and over—
one line at a time,
    one line at a time,
a little here,
    and a little there!”

¹¹ So now God will have to speak to his people
    through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language!
¹² God has told his people,
“Here is a place of rest;
    let the weary rest here.
This is a place of quiet rest.”
    But they would not listen.
¹³ So the Lord will spell out his message for them again,
one line at a time,
    one line at a time,
a little here,
    and a little there,
so that they will stumble and fall.
    They will be injured, trapped, and captured.

¹⁴ Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord,
    you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem.
¹⁵ You boast, “We have struck a bargain to cheat death
    and have made a deal to dodge the grave.^[c]
The coming destruction can never touch us,
    for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.”

¹⁶ Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem,^[d]
    a firm and tested stone.
It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on.
    Whoever believes need never be shaken.^[e]
17 I will test you with the measuring line of justice
    and the plumb line of righteousness.
Since your refuge is made of lies,
    a hailstorm will knock it down.
Since it is made of deception,
    a flood will sweep it away.
¹⁸ I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death,
    and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave.
When the terrible enemy sweeps through,
    you will be trampled into the ground.
¹⁹ Again and again that flood will come,
    morning after morning,
day and night,
    until you are carried away.”

This message will bring terror to your people.
²⁰ The bed you have made is too short to lie on.
    The blankets are too narrow to cover you.
²¹ The Lord will come as he did against the Philistines at Mount Perazim
    and against the Amorites at Gibeon.
He will come to do a strange thing;
    he will come to do an unusual deed:
²² For the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    has plainly said that he is determined to crush the whole land.
So scoff no more,
    or your punishment will be even greater.

²³ Listen to me;
    listen, and pay close attention.
²⁴ Does a farmer always plow and never sow?
    Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting?
²⁵ Does he not finally plant his seeds—
    black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat—
each in its proper way,
    and each in its proper place?
²⁶ The farmer knows just what to do,
    for God has given him understanding.
²⁷ A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin;
    rather, it is beaten with a light stick.
A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin;
    instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail.
²⁸ Grain for bread is easily crushed,
    so he doesn’t keep on pounding it.
He threshes it under the wheels of a cart,
    but he doesn’t pulverize it.
²⁹ The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher,
    and he gives the farmer great wisdom.

⁶ In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together;
    the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.
The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion,
    and a little child will lead them all.
⁷ The cow will graze near the bear.
    The cub and the calf will lie down together.
    The lion will eat hay like a cow.
⁸ The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra.
    Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm.
⁹ Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,
    for as the waters fill the sea,
    so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.

¹⁰ In that day the heir to David’s throne^[b]
    will be a banner of salvation to all the world.
The nations will rally to him,
    and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.^[c]
11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time
    to bring back the remnant of his people—
those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt;
    in southern Egypt, Ethiopia,^[d] and Elam;
    in Babylonia,^[e] Hamath, and all the distant coastlands.
¹² He will raise a flag among the nations
    and assemble the exiles of Israel.
He will gather the scattered people of Judah
    from the ends of the earth.

¹³ Then at last the jealousy between Israel^[f] and Judah will end.
    They will not be rivals anymore.
¹⁴ They will join forces to swoop down on Philistia to the west.
    Together they will attack and plunder the nations to the east.
They will occupy the lands of Edom and Moab,
    and Ammon will obey them.
¹⁵ The Lord will make a dry path through the gulf of the Red Sea.^[g]
    He will wave his hand over the Euphrates River,^[h]
sending a mighty wind to divide it into seven streams
    so it can easily be crossed on foot.
¹⁶ He will make a highway for the remnant of his people,
    the remnant coming from Assyria,
just as he did for Israel long ago
    when they returned from Egypt.