Your officials are rebels, ¹  they associate with ²  thieves. All of them love bribery, and look for ³  payoffs. ⁴  They do not take up the cause of the orphan, ⁵  or defend the rights of the widow. ⁶ 

Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

No foreigner who becomes a follower of ¹  the Lord should say, ‘The Lord will certainly ²  exclude me from his people.’ The eunuch should not say, ‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”

If the Lord who commands armies ¹  had not left us a few survivors, we would have quickly become like Sodom, ²  we would have become like Gomorrah.

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,

Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, ¹  and your children ²  like its granules. Their name would not have been cut off and eliminated from my presence. ³ 

For the sake of my servant Jacob, Israel, my chosen one, I call you by name and give you a title of respect, even though you do not recognize ¹  me.

They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions; he makes water flow out of a rock for them; he splits open a rock and water flows out.’ ¹ 

You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners, or to fall among those who have been killed. ¹  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

Even if the mountains are removed and the hills displaced, my devotion will not be removed from you, nor will my covenant of friendship ¹  be displaced,” says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.

his form was so marred he no longer looked human ¹  – so now ²  he will startle ³  many nations. Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, ⁴  for they will witness something unannounced to them, and they will understand something they had not heard about.

I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, ¹  and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it.

Once he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant, sow the seed of the cumin plant, and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places? ¹ 

Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! ¹  Not one of these creatures will be missing, ²  none will lack a mate. ³  For the Lord has issued the decree, ⁴  and his own spirit gathers them. ⁵ 

“Look, I am about to do something new. Now it begins to happen! ¹  Do you not recognize ²  it? Yes, I will make a road in the desert and paths ³  in the wilderness.

The Lord who commands armies told me this: ¹  “Certainly this sin will not be forgiven as long as you live,” ²  says the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies.

Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, ¹  those who rely on war horses, and trust in Egypt’s many chariots ²  and in their many, many horsemen. ³  But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel ⁴  and do not seek help from the Lord.

Justice is driven back; godliness ¹  stands far off. Indeed, ²  honesty stumbles in the city square and morality is not even able to enter.

For this is what the Lord says: “You were sold for nothing, and you will not be redeemed for money.”

When you spread out your hands in prayer, I look the other way; ¹  when you offer your many prayers, I do not listen, because your hands are covered with blood. ²