Judgments and Promises

¹“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me;I was found by those who did not seek Me.To a nation that did not call My name,I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

²All day long I have held out My handsto an obstinate peoplewho walk in the wrong path,who follow their own imaginations,

³to a people who continually provoke Me to My face,sacrificing in the gardensand burning incense on altars of brick,

⁴sitting among the graves,spending nights in secret places,eating the meat of pigsand polluted broth from their bowls.

⁵They say, ‘Keep to yourself;do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’Such people are smoke in My nostrils,a fire that burns all day long.

⁶Behold, it is written before Me:I will not keep silent, but I will repay;I will pay it back into their laps,

⁷both for your iniquitiesand for those of your fathers,”says the LORD.“Because they burned incense on the mountainsand scorned Me on the hills,I will measure into their lapsfull payment for their former deeds.”

⁸This is what the LORD says:“As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes,and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’so I will act on behalf of My servants;I will not destroy them all.

⁹And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,and heirs from Judah;My elect will possess My mountains,and My servants will dwell there.

¹⁰Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,for My people who seek Me.

¹¹But you who forsake the LORD,who forget My holy mountain,who set a table for Fortuneand fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

¹²I will destine you for the sword,and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered,because I called and you did not answer,I spoke and you did not listen;you did evil in My sightand chose that in which I did not delight.”

¹³Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:“My servants will eat,but you will go hungry;My servants will drink,but you will go thirsty;My servants will rejoice,but you will be put to shame.

¹⁴My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart,but you will cry out with a heavy heartand wail with a broken spirit.

¹⁵You will leave behind your nameas a curse for My chosen ones,and the Lord GOD will slay you;but to His servants He will give another name.

¹⁶Whoever invokes a blessing in the landwill do so by the God of truth,and whoever takes an oath in the landwill swear by the God of truth.For the former troubles will be forgottenand hidden from My sight.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

¹⁷For behold, I will createnew heavens and a new earth.The former things will not be remembered,nor will they come to mind.

¹⁸But be glad and rejoice foreverin what I create;for I will create Jerusalem to be a joyand its people to be a delight.

¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalemand take delight in My people.The sounds of weeping and cryingwill no longer be heard in her.

²⁰No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days,or an old man fail to live out his years.For the youth will die at a hundred years,and he who fails to reach a hundredwill be considered accursed.

²¹They will build houses and dwell in them;they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²²No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit,nor plant for others to eat.For as is the lifetime of a tree,so will be the days of My people,and My chosen ones will fully enjoythe work of their hands.

²³They will not labor in vainor bear children doomed to disaster;for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.

²⁴Even before they call, I will answer,and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will feed together,and the lion will eat straw like the ox,but the food of the serpentwill be dust.They will neither harm nor destroyon all My holy mountain,”says the LORD.

The Root of Jesse

¹Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse,and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

²The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,the Spirit of counsel and strength,the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.

³And He will delight in the fear of the LORD.He will not judge by what His eyes see,and He will not decide by what His ears hear,

⁴but with righteousness He will judge the poor,and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth.He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouthand slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

⁵Righteousness will be the belt around His hips,and faithfulness the sash around His waist.

⁶The wolf will live with the lamb,and the leopard will lie down with the goat;the calf and young lion and fatling will be together,and a little child will lead them.

⁷The cow will graze with the bear,their young will lie down together,and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

⁸The infant will play by the cobra’s den,and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.

⁹They will neither harm nor destroyon all My holy mountain,for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORDas the sea is full of water.

¹⁰On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him,and His place of rest will be glorious.

¹¹On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush,from Elam, from Shinar,from Hamath, and from the islandsof the sea.

¹²He will raise a banner for the nationsand gather the exiles of Israel;He will collect the scattered of Judahfrom the four corners of the earth.

¹³Then the jealousy of Ephraimwill depart,and the adversariesof Judah will be cut off.Ephraim will no longer envy Judah,nor will Judah harass Ephraim.

¹⁴They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines to the west;together they will plunder the sons of the east.They will lay their hands on Edom and Moab,and the Ammonites will be subject to them.

¹⁵The LORD will devote to destructionthe gulfof the Sea of Egypt;with a scorching wind He will sweep His handover the Euphrates.He will split it into seven streamsfor men to cross with dry sandals.

¹⁶There will be a highway for the remnant of His peoplewho remain from Assyria,as there was for Israelwhen they came up from the land of Egypt.

The LORD Speaks of His Creation

¹“Do you know when mountain goats give birth?Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?

²Can you count the months they are pregnant?Do you know the time they give birth?

³They crouch down and bring forth their young;they deliver their newborn.

⁴Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field;they leave and do not return.

⁵Who set the wild donkey free?Who released the swift donkey from the harness?

⁶I made the wilderness his homeand the salt flats his dwelling.

⁷He scorns the tumult of the cityand never hears the shouts of a driver.

⁸He roams the mountains for pasture,searching for any green thing.

⁹Will the wild ox consent to serve you?Will he stay by your manger at night?

¹⁰Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?Will he plow the valleys behind you?

¹¹Can you rely on his great strength?Will you leave your hard work to him?

¹²Can you trust him to bring in your grainand gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,but cannot match the pinionsand feathers of the stork.

¹⁴For she leaves her eggs on the groundand lets them warm in the sand.

¹⁵She forgets that a foot may crush them,or a wild animal may trample them.

¹⁶She treats her young harshly, as if not her own,with no concern that her labor was in vain.

¹⁷For God has deprived her of wisdom;He has not endowed her with understanding.

¹⁸Yet when she proudly spreads her wings,she laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹Do you give strength to the horseor adorn his neck with a mane?

²⁰Do you make him leap like a locust,striking terror with his proud snorting?

²¹He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength;he charges into battle.

²²He laughs at fear, frightened of nothing;he does not turn back from the sword.

²³A quiver rattles at his side,along with a flashing spear and lance.

²⁴Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance;he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.

²⁵At the blast of the horn, he snorts with fervor.He catches the scent of battle from afar,the shouts of captains and the cry of war.

²⁶Does the hawk take flight by your understandingand spread his wings toward the south?

²⁷Does the eagle soar at your commandand make his nest on high?

²⁸He dwells on a cliff and lodges there;his stronghold is on a rocky crag.

²⁹From there he spies out food;his eyes see it from afar.

³⁰His young ones feast on blood;and where the slain are, there he is.”

Sing to the LORD a New Song

¹Sing to the LORD a new song,for He has done wonders;His right hand and holy armhave gained Him the victory.

²The LORD has proclaimed His salvationand revealed His righteousness to the nations.

³He has remembered His love and faithfulnessto the house of Israel;all the ends of the earthhave seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;break forth—let your cry ring out, and sing praises!

⁵Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,in melodious song with the harp.

⁶With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s hornshout for joy before the LORD, the King.

⁷Let the sea resound, and all that fills it,the world, and all who dwell in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands,let the mountains sing together for joy

⁹before the LORD,for He comes to judge the earth.He will judge the world with righteousnessand the peoples with equity.