I am not angry. I wish I could confront some thorns and briers! Then I would march against them ¹  for battle; I would set them ²  all on fire,

From whom does he receive directions? ¹  Who ²  teaches him the correct way to do things, ³  or imparts knowledge to him, or instructs him in skillful design? ⁴ 

From this day forward I am he; no one can deliver from my power; ¹  I will act, and who can prevent it?”

If anyone dares to ¹  challenge you, it will not be my doing! Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. ² 

Then you will think to yourself, ¹  ‘Who bore these children for me? I was bereaved and barren, dismissed and divorced. ²  Who raised these children? Look, I was left all alone; where did these children come from?’”

Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country ¹  be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

What will you do on judgment day, ¹  when destruction arrives from a distant place? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

‘What right do you have to be here? What relatives do you have buried here? ¹  Why ²  do you chisel out a tomb for yourself here? He chisels out his burial site in an elevated place, he carves out his tomb on a cliff.

Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. ¹  In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me?

Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” ¹ 

Who has measured out the waters ¹  in the hollow of his hand, or carefully ²  measured the sky, ³  or carefully weighed ⁴  the soil of the earth, or weighed the mountains in a balance, or the hills on scales? ⁵ 

Who stirs up this one from the east? ¹  Who ²  officially commissions him for service? ³  He hands nations over to him, ⁴  and enables him to subdue ⁵  kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, like windblown straw with his bow. ⁶ 

Who acts and carries out decrees? ¹  Who ²  summons the successive generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning, and at the very end – I am the one. ³ 

Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know? Who announced it ¹  ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’? Indeed, none of them decreed it! Indeed, none of them announced it! Indeed, no one heard you say anything!

Who handed Jacob over to the robber? Who handed Israel over to the looters? ¹  Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned? They refused to follow his commands; they disobeyed his law. ² 

All nations gather together, the peoples assemble. Who among them announced this? Who predicted earlier events for us? ¹  Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right; let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’

Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ¹  Let him announce it and explain it to me – since I established an ancient people – ²  let them announce future events! ³ 

All of you, gather together and listen! Who among them ¹  announced these things? The Lord’s ally ²  will carry out his desire against Babylon; he will exert his power against the Babylonians. ³ 

Look, the sovereign Lord helps me. Who dares to condemn me? Look, all of them will wear out like clothes; a moth will eat away at them.

Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys ¹  his servant? Whoever walks in deep darkness, ²  without light, should trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.