Day 270 of 730

¹"Keep silent before me, islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let's meet together for judgment.

²Who has raised up one from the east? Whom he called to his foot in righteousness? He hands over nations to him, and makes him rule over kings. He gives them like the dust to his sword, like the driven stubble to his bow.

³He pursues them, and passes by safely, Even by a way that he had not gone with his feet.

⁴Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am he."

⁵The islands have seen, and fear. The ends of the earth tremble. They approach, and come.

⁶Everyone helps his neighbor. They say to their brothers, "Be strong!"

⁷So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. He who smoothes with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good;" and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter.

⁸"But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,

⁹You whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from its corners, and said to you, 'You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away;'

¹⁰Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.

¹¹Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish.

¹²You will seek them, and won't find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent thing.

¹³For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Do not be afraid. I will help you.'

¹⁴Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you," says the Lord, "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff.

¹⁶You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in the Lord. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

¹⁸I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

¹⁹I will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oil trees in the wilderness. I will set fir trees, pine, and box trees together in the desert;

²⁰that they may see, know, consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹Produce your cause," says the Lord. "Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob.

²²"Let them announce, and declare to us what shall happen. Declare the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.

²³Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together.

²⁴Behold, you are of nothing, and your work is of nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination.

²⁵"I have raised up one from the north, and he has come; from the rising of the sun, one who calls on my name; and he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter treads clay.

²⁶Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? And before, that we may say, 'He is right?' Surely, there is no one who declares. Surely, there is no one who shows. Surely, there is no one who hears your words.

²⁷I am the first to say to Zion, 'Behold, look at them;' and I will give one who brings good news to Jerusalem.

²⁸When I look, there is no man; even among them there is no counselor who, when I ask of them, can answer a word.

²⁹Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion.

¹"Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights- I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.

²He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street.

³He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.

⁴He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and for his law the coastlands will hope."

⁵Thus says God the Lord, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.

⁶"I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations;

⁷to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.

⁸"I am the Lord. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images.

⁹Behold, the former things have happened, and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up."

¹⁰Sing to the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands and their inhabitants.

¹¹Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices, with the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains!

¹²Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands.

¹³The Lord will go out like a mighty man. He will stir up zeal like a man of war. He will raise a war cry. Yes, he will shout aloud. He will triumph over his enemies.

¹⁴"I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.

¹⁵I will destroy mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs. I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.

¹⁶I will bring the blind by a way that they do not know. I will lead them in paths that they do not know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.

¹⁷"Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, 'You are our gods' will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.

¹⁸"Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see.

¹⁹Who is blind, but my servant? Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is as blind as he who is at peace, and as blind as the Lord's servant?

²⁰You see many things, but do not observe. His ears are open, but he doesn't listen.

²¹It pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.

²²But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prisons. They have become a prey, and no one delivers; and a spoil, and no one says, 'Restore them!'

²³Who is there among you who will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?

²⁴Who gave Jacob as plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his ways, and they disobeyed his law.

²⁵Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire all around, but he did not know; and it burned him, but he did not take it to heart."

¹In my distress, I cried to the Lord. He answered me.

²Deliver my soul, Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.

³What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you, you deceitful tongue?

⁴Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

⁵Woe is me, that I live in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

⁶My soul has had her dwelling too long with him who hates peace.

⁷I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.

¹A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold.

²The rich and the poor have this in common: The Lord is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man sees danger, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

⁴The result of humility and the fear of the Lord is wealth, honor, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked: whoever guards his soul stays from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

⁹He who has a generous eye will be blessed; for he shares his food with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out; yes, quarrels and insults will stop.

¹¹He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king's friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord watch over knowledge; but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

¹³The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!"

¹⁴The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit: he who is under the Lord's wrath will fall into it.

¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a child: the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

¹⁶Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.

¹⁷Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.

¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.

¹⁹That your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you.

²⁰Haven't I written to you thirty excellent things of counsel and knowledge,

²¹To teach you truth, reliable words, to give sound answers to the ones who sent you?

²²Do not exploit the poor, because he is poor; and do not crush the needy in court;

²³for the Lord will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.

²⁴Do not befriend a hot-tempered man, and do not associate with one who harbors anger:

²⁵lest you learn his ways, and ensnare your soul.

²⁶Do not be one of those who strike hands, of those who are collateral for debts.

²⁷If you do not have means to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?

²⁸Do not move the ancient boundary stone, which your fathers have set up.

²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won't serve obscure men.