Zion’s Salvation and New Name

¹For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still,until her righteousness shines like a bright light,her salvation like a blazing torch.

²Nations will see your righteousness,and all kings your glory.You will be called by a new namethat the mouth of the LORD will bestow.

³You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD,a royal diadem in the palm of your God.

⁴No longer will you be called Forsaken,nor your land named Desolate;but you will be called Hephzibah,and your land Beulah;for the LORD will take delight in you,and your land will be His bride.

⁵For as a young man marries a young woman,so your sons will marry you;and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,so your God will rejoice over you.

⁶On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen;they will never be silent day or night.You who call on the LORDshall take no rest for yourselves,

⁷nor give Him any restuntil He establishes Jerusalemand makes her the praise of the earth.

⁸The LORD has sworn by His right handand by His mighty arm:“Never again will I give your grainto your enemies for food,nor will foreigners drink the new winefor which you have toiled.

⁹For those who harvest grainwill eat it and praise the LORD,and those who gather grapeswill drink the wine in My holy courts.”

¹⁰Go out, go out through the gates;prepare the way for the people!Build it up, build up the highway;clear away the stones;raise a banner for the nations!

¹¹Behold, the LORD has proclaimedto the ends of the earth,“Say to Daughter Zion:See, your Savior comes!Look, His reward is with Him,and His recompense goes before Him.”

¹²And they will be called the Holy People,the Redeemed of The LORD;and you will be called Sought Out,A City Not Forsaken.

The Blessed Death of the Righteous

¹The righteous perish,and no one takes it to heart;devout men are taken away,while no one considersthat the righteous are taken awayfrom the presence of evil.

²Those who walk uprightly enter into peace;they find rest, lying down in death.

God Condemns Idolatry

³“But come here, you sons of a sorceress,you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

⁴Whom are you mocking?At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue?Are you not children of transgression,offspring of deceit,

⁵who burn with lust among the oaks,under every luxuriant tree,who slaughter your children in the valleys,under the clefts of the rocks?

⁶Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley;indeed, they are your lot.Even to them you have poured out a drink offeringand offered a grain offering.Should I relent because of these?

⁷On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed,and there you went up to offer sacrifices.

⁸Behind the door and doorpostyou have set up your memorial.Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed;you climbed up and opened it wide.And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved;you have gazed upon their nakedness.

⁹You went to Molechwith oiland multiplied your perfumes.You have sent your envoysa great distance;you have descended even to Sheol itself.

¹⁰You are wearied by your many journeys,but you did not say, “There is no hope!”You found renewal of your strength;therefore you did not grow weak.

¹¹Whom have you dreaded and feared,so that you lied and failedto remember Me or take this to heart?Is it not because I have long been silentthat you do not fear Me?

¹²I will expose your righteousness and your works,and they will not profit you.

¹³When you cry out,let your companies of idols deliver you!Yet the wind will carry off all of them,a breath will take them away.But he who seeks refuge in Me will inherit the landand possess My holy mountain.”

Healing for the Repentant

¹⁴And it will be said,“Build it up, build it up, prepare the way,take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”

¹⁵For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:“I dwell in a high and holy place,and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,to restore the spirit of the lowlyand revive the heart of the contrite.

¹⁶For I will not accuse you forever,nor will I always be angry;for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me—the breath of life I have made.

¹⁷I was enraged by his sinful greed,so I struck him and hid My face in anger;yet he kept turning backto the desires of his heart.

¹⁸I have seen his ways,but I will heal him;I will guide him and restore comfortto him and his mourners,

¹⁹bringing praise to their lips.Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD,“and I will heal them.”

²⁰But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea,for it cannot be still,and its waves churn up mire and muck.

²¹“There is no peace,” says my God,“for the wicked.”

Judgment on Nineveh

¹Woe to the city of blood,full of lies,full of plunder,never without prey.

²The crack of the whip,the rumble of the wheel,galloping horseand bounding chariot!

³Charging horseman,flashing sword,shining spear;heaps of slain,mounds of corpses,dead bodies without end—they stumble over their dead—

⁴because of the many harlotries of the harlot,the seductive mistress of sorcery,who betrays nations by her prostitutionand clans by her witchcraft.

⁵“Behold, I am against you,”declares the LORD of Hosts.“I will lift your skirts over your face.I will show your nakedness to the nationsand your shame to the kingdoms.

⁶I will pelt you with filthand treat you with contempt;I will make a spectacle of you.

⁷Then all who see youwill recoil from you and say,‘Nineveh is devastated;who will grieve for her?’Where can I findcomforters for you?”

⁸Are you better than Thebes,stationed by the Nile with water around her,whose rampart was the sea,whose wall was the water?

⁹Cushand Egypt were her boundless strength;Put and Libya were her allies.

¹⁰Yet she became an exile;she went into captivity.Her infants were dashed to piecesat the head of every street.They cast lots for her dignitaries,and all her nobles were bound in chains.

¹¹You too will become drunk;you will go into hidingand seek refuge from the enemy.

¹²All your fortresses are fig treeswith the first ripe figs;when shaken, they fallinto the mouth of the eater!

¹³Look at your troops—they are like your women!The gates of your landare wide open to your enemies;fire consumes their bars.

¹⁴Draw your water for the siege;strengthen your fortresses.Work the clay and tread the mortar;repair the brick kiln!

¹⁵There the fire will devour you;the sword will cut you downand consume you like a young locust.Make yourself many like the young locust;make yourself many like the swarming locust!

¹⁶You have multiplied your merchantsmore than the stars of the sky.The young locust strips the landand flies away.

¹⁷Your guardsare like the swarming locust,and your scribeslike clouds of locuststhat settle on the walls on a cold day.When the sun rises, they fly away,and no one knows where.

¹⁸O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;your officers sleep.Your people are scattered on the mountainswith no one to gather them.

¹⁹There is no healing for your injury;your wound is severe.All who hear the news of youapplaud your downfall,for who has not experiencedyour constant cruelty?

A Father’s Instruction

¹Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;pay attention and gain understanding.

²For I give you sound teaching;do not abandon my directive.

³When I was a son to my father,tender and the only child of my mother,

⁴he taught me and said,“Let your heart lay hold of my words;keep my commands and you will live.

⁵Get wisdom, get understanding;do not forget my words or turn from them.

⁶Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you;love her, and she will guard you.

⁷Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom.And whatever you may acquire,gain understanding.

⁸Prize her, and she will exalt you;if you embrace her, she will honor you.

⁹She will set a garland of grace on your head;she will present you with a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, and receive my words,and the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I will guide you in the way of wisdom;I will lead you on straight paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Hold on to instruction; do not let go.Guard it, for it is your life.

¹⁴Do not set foot on the path of the wickedor walk in the way of evildoers.

¹⁵Avoid it; do not travel on it.Turn from it and pass on by.

¹⁶For they cannot sleepunless they do evil;they are deprived of slumberuntil they make someone fall.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickednessand drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,shining brighter and brighter until midday.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom;they do not know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words;incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹Do not lose sight of them;keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them,and health to the whole body.

²³Guard your heart with all diligence,for from it flow springs of life.

²⁴Put away deception from your mouth;keep your lips from perverse speech.

²⁵Let your eyes look forward;fix your gaze straight ahead.

²⁶Make a level path for your feet,and all your ways will be sure.

²⁷Do not swerve to the right or to the left;turn your feet away from evil.