<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">&#8220;Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!p> <p class="poetry">Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">so we may examine them<n id="2" /> and see how they were fulfilled.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Or decree for us some future events!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">I decreed and delivered and proclaimed,p> <p class="poetry">and there was no other god among you.p> <p class="poetry">You are my witnesses,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;that I am God.p>

<p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t panic! Don&#8217;t be afraid!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?p> <p class="poetry">You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?p> <p class="poetry">There is no other sheltering rock;<n id="2" /> I know of none.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Listen to me, O family of Jacob,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">all you who are left from the family of Israel,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you who have been carried from birth,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">So now, listen to this,p> <p class="poetry">O one who lives so lavishly,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">who lives securely,p> <p class="poetry">who says to herself,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I am unique! No one can compare to me!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will never have to live as a widow;p> <p class="poetry">I will never lose my children.&#8217;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I announced them to you beforehand;p> <p class="poetry">before they happened, I predicted them for you,p> <p class="poetry">so you could never say,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;My image did these things,p> <p class="poetry">my idol, my cast image, decreed them.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">All of you, gather together and listen!p> <p class="poetry">Who among them<n id="1" /> announced these things?p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s ally<n id="2" /> will carry out his desire against Babylon;p> <p class="poetry">he will exert his power against the Babylonians.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Approach me! Listen to this!p> <p class="poetry">From the very first I have not spoken in secret;p> <p class="poetry">when it happens,<n id="1" /> I am there.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">So now, the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> has sent me, accompanied by his spirit.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Leave Babylon!p> <p class="poetry">Flee from the Babylonians!p> <p class="poetry">Announce it with a shout of joy!p> <p class="poetry">Make this known!p> <p class="poetry">Proclaim it throughout the earth!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Say, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> protects<n id="2" /> his servant Jacob.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Listen to me, you coastlands!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Pay attention, you people who live far away!p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> summoned me from birth;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who among you fears the <sc>Lordsc>?p> <p class="poetry">Who obeys<n id="1" /> his servant?p> <p class="poetry">Whoever walks in deep darkness,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">without light,p> <p class="poetry">should trust in the name of the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">and rely on his God.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Listen to me, you who pursue godliness,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">who seek the <sc>Lordsc>!p> <p class="poetry">Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,p> <p class="poetry">at the quarry<n id="2" /> from which you were dug!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Listen to me, you who know what is right,p> <p class="poetry">you people who are aware of my law!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t be afraid of the insults of men;p> <p class="poetry">don&#8217;t be discouraged because of their abuse!p>

<p class="poetry">his form was so marred he no longer looked human<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">so now<n id="2" /> he will startle<n id="3" /> many nations.p> <p class="poetry">Kings will be shocked by his exaltation,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">for they will witness something unannounced to them,p> <p class="poetry">and they will understand something they had not heard about.p>

<p class="poetry">Pay attention and come to me!p> <p class="poetry">Listen, so you can live!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to<n id="2" /> you,p> <p class="poetry">just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Look, your fasting is accompanied by<n id="1" /> arguments, brawls,p> <p class="poetry">and fistfights.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Do not fast as you do today,p> <p class="poetry">trying to make your voice heard in heaven.p>

<p class="poetry">But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;p> <p class="poetry">your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Sounds of violence<n id="1" /> will no longer be heard in your land,p> <p class="poetry">or the sounds of<n id="2" /> destruction and devastation within your borders.p> <p class="poetry">You will name your walls, &#8216;Deliverance,&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">and your gates, &#8216;Praise.&#8217;p>