<p class="poetry">Do you not know?p> <p class="poetry">Do you not hear?p> <p class="poetry">Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?p> <p class="poetry">Have you not understood from the time the earth&#8217;s foundations were made?p>

<t /><p class="poetry">In just a very short time<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Lebanon will turn into an orchard,p> <p class="poetry">and the orchard will be considered a forest.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">You have heard; now look at all the evidence!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Will you not admit that what I say is true?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">From this point on I am announcing to you new eventsp> <p class="poetry">that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Once he has leveled its surface,p> <p class="poetry">does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant,p> <p class="poetry">sow the seed of the cumin plant,p> <p class="poetry">and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places?<n id="1" />p>

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">Certainly you must have heard!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Long ago I worked it out,p> <p class="poetry">in ancient times I planned<n id="3" /> it,p> <p class="poetry">and now I am bringing it to pass.p> <p class="poetry">The plan is this:p> <p class="poetry">Fortified cities will crashp> <p class="poetry">into heaps of ruins.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Do you not know?p> <p class="poetry">Have you not heard?p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> is an eternal God,p> <p class="poetry">the creator of the whole earth.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He does not get tired or weary;p> <p class="poetry">there is no limit to his wisdom.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who handed Jacob over to the robber?p> <p class="poetry">Who handed Israel over to the looters?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Was it not the <sc>Lordsc>, against whom we sinned?p> <p class="poetry">They refused to follow his commands;p> <p class="poetry">they disobeyed his law.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Look, I am about to do something new.p> <p class="poetry">Now it begins to happen!<n id="1" /> Do you not recognize<n id="2" /> it?p> <p class="poetry">Yes, I will make a road in the desertp> <p class="poetry">and paths<n id="3" /> in the wilderness.p>

<p class="poetry">He feeds on ashes;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">his deceived mind misleads him.p> <p class="poetry">He cannot rescue himself,p> <p class="poetry">nor does he say, &#8216;Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?&#8217;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Wake up! Wake up!p> <p class="poetry">Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the <sc>Lordsc>!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!p> <p class="poetry">Did you not smash<n id="2" /> the Proud One?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Did you not<n id="4" /> wound the sea monster?<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Did you not dry up the sea,p> <p class="poetry">the waters of the great deep?p> <p class="poetry">Did you not make<n id="1" /> a path through the depths of the sea,p> <p class="poetry">so those delivered from bondage<n id="2" /> could cross over?p>

<p class="poetry">At whom are you laughing?p> <p class="poetry">At whom are you opening your mouthp> <p class="poetry">and sticking out your tongue?p> <p class="poetry">You are the children of rebels,p> <p class="poetry">the offspring of liars,<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">No, this is the kind of fast I want.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I want you<n id="2" /> to remove the sinful chains,p> <p class="poetry">to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,p> <p class="poetry">to set free the oppressed,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and to break every burdensome yoke.p>

<p class="poetry">I want you<n id="1" /> to share your food with the hungryp> <p class="poetry">and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">When you see someone naked, clothe him!p> <p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t turn your back on your own flesh and blood!<n id="3" />p>

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">They will say to you, &#8220;Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations.<n id="2" /> Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?&#8221;<n id="3" />

Perhaps you will tell me, &#8216;We are trusting in the <sc>Lordsc> our God.&#8217; But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, &#8216;You must worship at this altar.&#8217;

<p class="poetry">Tell me! Present the evidence!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let them consult with one another!p> <p class="poetry">Who predicted this in the past?p> <p class="poetry">Who announced it beforehand?p> <p class="poetry">Was it not I, the <sc>Lordsc>?p> <p class="poetry">I have no peer, there is no God but me,p> <p class="poetry">a God who vindicates and delivers;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">there is none but me.p>