¹ Then said the LORD to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be towards this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.

² And it shall come to pass, if they say to thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.

³ And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.

⁴ And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

⁵ For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask concerning thy welfare?

⁶ Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

⁷ And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.

⁸ Their widows are multiplied to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noon-day: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.

⁹ She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath resigned her breath; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

¹⁰ Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor have men lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

¹¹ The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to treat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

¹² Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?

¹³ Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.

¹⁴ And I will make thee to pass with thy enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in my anger, which shall burn upon you.

¹⁵ O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy long-suffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

¹⁶ Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

¹⁷ I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.

¹⁸ Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether to me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

¹⁹ Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou shalt return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou shalt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return to thee; but return not thou to them.

²⁰ And I will make thee to this people a fortified brazen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

²¹ And I will deliver thee from the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee from the hand of the terrible.

¹ Listen, islands, to me; and Listen, you peoples, from far: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name:

² and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand, he has hidden me: and he has made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he kept me close:

³ and he said to me, "You are my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

⁴ But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice [due] to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God."

⁵ Now says Yahweh who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered to him (for I am honorable in the eyes of Yahweh, and my God is become my strength);

⁶ yes, he says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth."

⁷ Thus says Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, [and] his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of Yahweh who is faithful, [even] the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."

⁸ Thus says Yahweh, "In an acceptable time have I answered you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you; and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage:

⁹ saying to those who are bound, 'Come out!'; to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves!' "They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture.

¹⁰ They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water he will guide them.

¹¹ I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

¹² Behold, these shall come from far; and behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim."

¹³ Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth; and break forth into singing, mountains: for Yahweh has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.

¹⁴ But Zion said, "Yahweh has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me."

¹⁵ "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!

¹⁶ Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

¹⁷ Your children make haste; your destroyers and those who made you waste shall go forth from you.

¹⁸ Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live," says Yahweh, "you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and dress yourself with them, like a bride.

¹⁹ "For, as for your waste and your desolate places, and your land that has been destroyed, surely now you shall be too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up shall be far away.

²⁰ The children of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, The place is too small for me; give place to me that I may dwell.

²¹ Then you will say in your heart, 'Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth? Who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?'"

²² Thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my banner to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

²³ Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed."

²⁴ Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?

²⁵ But thus says Yahweh, "Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.

²⁶ I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."