¹Bel has bowed down;  ²Nebo stoops;
Their idols are on beasts and cattle;
The things which you carry are a  ³burden,
A load for a weary beast.

They stoop and have bowed down together;
They are not able to escape the burden;
But they themselves have gone into captivity.

Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been borne from birth,
Who have been carried from the womb,

Even unto old age, I am He;
Even unto your gray-haired years, I will bear you.
I have made and I will carry,
And I will bear and deliver.

To whom will you liken Me,
And with whom will you make Me equal
And compare Me, that we should be considered alike?

Those who lavish gold from the purse
And weigh silver in scales
And hire a goldsmith, and he makes a god —
They bow down and even worship it;

They lift it up on their shoulder; they carry it
And set it in its place and stand it up.
It will not move from its place;
Someone even cries out to it, and it does not answer,
Nor save him from his distress.

Remember this and stand fast;
Put this in your heart, O transgressors.

Remember the former things of old,
That I am God and there is no one else;
I am God and there is no one like Me,

Who declares the end from the beginning
And things which have not been done from ancient times,
Saying, My counsel will stand,
And all My desire I will accomplish;

Who calls for a  ¹bird of prey from the east,
And from a distant land a man to be My counselor.
Indeed, I have spoken; surely I will bring it to pass.
I have purposed; surely I will do it.

Listen to Me, O hardhearted ones,
Who are far from righteousness.

I will bring My righteousness near — it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay;
And I will give salvation in Zion,
And to Israel My glory.

Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground where there is no throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
Tender and delicate.

Take millstones and grind meal;
Remove your veil;
Strip off your flowing skirt; uncover your thigh;
Cross over the rivers.

Your nakedness will be uncovered;
Your shame will also be seen;
I will take vengeance and will not spare any man.

Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.

Sit in silence and go in darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The queen of kingdoms.

I was angry with My people;
I profaned My inheritance,
And I have delivered them up into your hand.
You have not shown any mercy to them;
You have made your yoke
Very heavy upon the elderly.

You have said, I will be
A queen forever;
You did not put these things into your heart;
You did not remember the end of  ¹them.

And now hear this, O lover of pleasure,
Who dwells securely
And says in  ¹your heart,
I am, and there is none besides me;
I will not  ²dwell as a widow,
And I will not know loss of children.

But these two things will come upon you
Suddenly, in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood;
In full measure they will come upon you
In spite of the multitude of your sorceries;
In spite of the great power of your spells.

And you felt secure in your wickedness;
You said, No one sees me.
Your wisdom and your knowledge
Have seduced you,
And you said in your heart,
I am, and there is none besides me.

But evil will come upon you,
And you will not know its origin;
Disaster will fall upon you
Which you cannot expiate for;
Desolation will come upon you suddenly,
About which you do not know.

Stand now with your enchantments
And the multitude of your sorceries,
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you can profit;
Perhaps you will inspire terror.

You are wearied with the multitude of your counsels.
Let the astrologers, who gaze at the stars,
Who predict according to the new moons,
Stand up and save you from what is coming upon you.

Indeed, they are like stubble;
Fire consumes them;
They cannot deliver themselves
From the power of the flame;
There is no coal for warming themselves,
Nor the light of a fire to sit before.

So will those with whom you have labored be to you,
Those who have traded with you from your youth;
Each one will wander off in his own direction;
There will be no one to save you.

Hear this, O house of Jacob,
Who are called by the name of Israel;
And who came out from the  ¹waters of Judah,
Who swear by the name of Jehovah
And make mention of the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in righteousness.

For they call themselves after the holy city
And lean upon the God of Israel;
Jehovah of hosts is His name.

I have declared the former things from the beginning;
And they went out from My mouth, and I let them hear them;
I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

Because I knew that you are obstinate,
And your neck is an iron sinew,
And your forehead bronze;

Therefore I declared them to you long ago;
Before things came to pass I let you hear;
Lest you should say, My idol has done them,
And my graven image and my molten image commanded them.

You have heard; look at all this. And will you not declare it?
From this time I will let you hear new things
And hidden things which you have not known.

They have been created now, and not long ago;
And before this day you have not even heard them;
Lest you should say, Indeed, I knew them.

You also have not heard and have not known;
Your ears were not even open from that time;
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously
And would be called a transgressor from the womb.

For My name's sake I will defer My anger,
And for the sake of My praise I will restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.

Indeed, I have refined you but not like silver;
I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.

For My own sake, yes, for My own sake, I will do it,
For how can My name be profaned?
And I will not give My glory to another.

Listen to Me, O Jacob,
And Israel, whom I called;
I am He; I am the First,
I am also the Last.

Indeed, My hand laid the foundations of the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them,
They stand together.

Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
Jehovah loves  ¹him; he will do His pleasure
On Babylon, and His arm will be upon the Chaldeans.

I, even I, have spoken; indeed, I have called him;
I have brought him, and his way will prosper.

Draw near to Me and listen to this:
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord Jehovah
Has sent  ¹me and His  ²Spirit.

Thus says Jehovah, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of Israel,
I am Jehovah your God,
Who teaches you to do that which is profitable,
Who leads you in the way that you should go.

If only you had hearkened to My commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea,

And your seed would have been like the sand,
And the offspring of your bowels like the gravel;
His name would not have been cut off
Or destroyed before Me.

Come out from  ¹Babylon;
Flee from the Chaldeans;
With a voice of shouting declare;
Let them hear this,
Send it out unto the end of the earth;
Say, Jehovah has redeemed
His servant Jacob.

And they did not thirst
When He led them through the dry places;
He caused water to flow
From the rock for them;
And He split the rock,
And the waters gushed out.

There is no peace, says Jehovah, for the wicked.