Listen to what I have to say, you islands. Pay attention to me, you who live in distant lands.  Yahweh called me as his own before I was born and named me while I was still in my mother’s womb.  2 He gives me words that pierce and penetrate. He hid me and protected me […]

Your children would have multiplied to become like the sand of the seashore and your descendants like grains of sand. There would be no end of them, and I would not cut them off.” 20 Go! Leave Babylon! Flee from Chaldea! Announce it with joyous singing! Let everyone know! Proclaim it to the ends of

“Draw near to me and listen: From the beginning, I have not spoken in secret. From the beginning of time, I was there.” And now Lord Yahweh has sent me, empowered by his Spirit! 17 This is what Yahweh, your Kinsman-Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am Yahweh, your God. I am the

“Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am the One and Only, the First and the Last. 13 With my mighty hand I laid the foundation of the earth; with the span of my right hand I spread out the cosmos. And when I speak to them, they both stand at

Though I knew that you would fight against me as a rebel from birth, 9 yet, for the sake of my great name and for my glory, I held back my anger and was patient with you so I did not whittle you down to nothing. 10 See, I have purified you in the furnace

“Long ago I prophesied things that would happen. I issued decrees and made them known. Then suddenly, I acted and made them happen. You have heard what I foretold and have seen it all unfold, so admit that it happened and I was right! From now on I will tell you about new things never

“Listen carefully, O Jacob’s tribes, you who are called by the name Israel and come from the lineage of Judah, who solemnly swear in the name of Yahweh and claim to worship the God of Israel. But there is no truth or righteousness in your confession! 2 Indeed, you name yourselves after the holy city

So go ahead—keep trusting in your sorceries and the witchcraft you’ve practiced since your youth. Perhaps you might succeed! Perhaps you’ll scare away your impending doom! 13 You must be fatigued with so much counsel! Let the stargazers and astrologers take their stand. See if they can help you now! Let them make their monthly

You thought, ‘I will be the Mistress of Kingdoms forever.’ But you never considered what you were doing or reflected on how all this would end.8 So now, listen to this, you pampered lover of pleasure, who sits smug and secure and says in her heart, ‘I am, and there is no one like me!

“Get down from your throne and sit in the dust, O Miss Babylon! Sit on the ground where you belong, not on a throne, O Miss Chaldea! For you will never be described again as ‘delicate and dainty.’ 2 Take off your pretty veil; take two millstones and grind grain. Lift your skirt, bare your