Let them give the Lord the honor he deserves; ¹  let them praise his deeds in the coastlands. ² 

Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; ¹  now I announce new events. Before they begin to occur, I reveal them to you.” ² 

the people whom I formed for myself, so they might praise me.” ¹ 

I decreed and delivered and proclaimed, and there was no other god among you. You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God.

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 

Tell me! Present the evidence! ¹  Let them consult with one another! Who predicted this in the past? Who announced it beforehand? Was it not I, the Lord? I have no peer, there is no God but me, a God who vindicates and delivers; ²  there is none but me.

who announces the end from the beginning and reveals beforehand ¹  what has not yet occurred, who says, ‘My plan will be realized, I will accomplish what I desire,’

“I announced events beforehand, ¹  I issued the decrees and made the predictions; ²  suddenly I acted and they came to pass.

“Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen! Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, ¹  so we may examine them ²  and see how they were fulfilled. ³  Or decree for us some future events!

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!

I will denounce your so-called righteousness and your deeds, ¹  but they will not help you.

I have not spoken in secret, in some hidden place. ¹  I did not tell Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain!’ ²  I am the Lord, the one who speaks honestly, who makes reliable announcements. ³ 

“I will rise up against them,” says the Lord who commands armies. “I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people, ¹  including the offspring she produces,” ²  says the Lord.

Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! ¹  Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it? You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me? There is no other sheltering rock; ²  I know of none.

I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you could never say, ‘My image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’

Leave Babylon! Flee from the Babylonians! Announce it with a shout of joy! Make this known! Proclaim it throughout the earth! ¹  Say, ‘The Lord protects ²  his servant Jacob.

And now, what do we have here?” ¹  says the Lord. “Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing, those who rule over them taunt,” ²  says the Lord, “and my name is constantly slandered ³  all day long.

“Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet! Yell as loud as a trumpet! Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; ¹  confront Jacob’s family with their sin! ² 

Why do you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?” ¹  The sovereign Lord who commands armies ²  has spoken.

For this is what the sovereign master ¹  has told me: “Go, post a guard! He must report what he sees.