I have stirred up one out of the north ¹  and he advances, one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. ²  He steps on ³  rulers as if they were clay, like a potter treading the clay.

Look up at the sky! Look at the earth below! For the sky will dissipate ¹  like smoke, and the earth will wear out like clothes; its residents will die like gnats. But the deliverance I give ²  is permanent; the vindication I provide ³  will not disappear. ⁴ 

Is this really the kind of fasting I want? ¹  Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, ²  bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out ³  on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ¹  Let them take their stand – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions – let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ² 

I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; ¹  I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. ²  I will turn the darkness in front of them into light, and level out the rough ground. ³  This is what I will do for them. I will not abandon them.

Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; ¹  shout out, you subterranean regions ²  of the earth. O mountains, give a joyful shout; you too, O forest and all your trees! ³  For the Lord protects ⁴  Jacob; he reveals his splendor through Israel. ⁵ 

“Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth! Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one are more numerous than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

You will fall; while lying on the ground ¹  you will speak; from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. ²  Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; ³  from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation. ⁴ 

This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth; my hand is ready to strike all the nations.” ¹ 

Their slain will be left unburied, ¹  their corpses will stink; ²  the hills will soak up their blood. ³ 

to open blind eyes, ¹  to release prisoners ²  from dungeons, those who live in darkness from prisons.

Turn aside from the way, stray off the path. ¹  Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.” ² 

I know where you live and everything you do and how you rage against me. ¹ 

At that time ¹  the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll, and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. ² 

Indeed, ¹  the Lord who commands armies has a plan, and who can possibly frustrate it? His hand is ready to strike, and who can possibly stop it? ² 

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 

Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic. ¹  For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard.

O Lord, in distress they looked for you; they uttered incantations because of your discipline. ¹ 

“As for me, this is my promise to ¹  them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” ²  says the Lord.

So I will shake the heavens, ¹  and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, ²  because of the fury of the Lord who commands armies, in the day he vents his raging anger. ³