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

“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!

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 

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

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

O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, ¹  what I have heard from the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel, I have reported to you.

Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you since the very beginning? Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?

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 

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

You have heard; now look at all the evidence! ¹  Will you not admit that what I say is true? ²  From this point on I am announcing to you new events that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. 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.

The look on their faces ¹  testifies to their guilt; ²  like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. ³  Too bad for them! ⁴  For they bring disaster on themselves.

It was reported to the family ¹  of David, “Syria has allied with ²  Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. ³ 

But where, oh where, are your wise men? ¹  Let them tell you, let them find out what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.

I have received a distressing message: ¹  “The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!” ² 

Predict how future events will turn out, ¹  so we might know you are gods. Yes, do something good or bad, so we might be frightened and in awe. 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.’

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.

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.