Revised Version 1885 (RV1885)

1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.

3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will accept no man.

4 Our redeemer, theLordof hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.

5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called The lady of kingdoms.

6 I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end thereof.

8 Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and there is none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:

9 but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: in their full measure shall they come upon thee, despite of the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments.

10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me; thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee: and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and there is none else beside me.

11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know the dawning thereof: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou knowest not.

12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.

13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee.

14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before.

15 Thus shall the things be unto thee wherein thou hast laboured: they that have trafficked with thee from thy youth shall wander every one to his quarter; there shall be none to save thee.

1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; which swear by the name of theLord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.

2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; theLordof hosts is his name.

3 I have declared the former things from of old; yea, they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them: suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.

4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

5 therefore I have declared it to thee from of old; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

6 Thou hast heard it; behold all this; and ye, will ye not declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, which thou hast not known.

7 They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

9 For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.

10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

11 For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; for how shouldmy namebe profaned? and my glory will I not give to another.

12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

13 Yea, mine hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

14 Assemble yourselves, all ye, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? TheLordhath loved him: he shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his armshall be onthe Chaldeans.

15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the LordGODhath sent me, and his spirit.

17 Thus saith theLord, thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am theLordthy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

18 Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

19 thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the grains thereof: his name should not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.

20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say ye, TheLordhath redeemed his servant Jacob.

21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

22 There is no peace, saith theLord, unto the wicked.

1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: theLordhath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name:

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

3 and he said unto me, Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

4 But I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and vanity: yet surely my judgment is with theLord, and my recompence with my God.

5 And now saith theLordthat formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered unto him: (for I am honourable in the eyes of theLord, and my God is become my strength:)

6 yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

7 Thus saith theLord, the redeemer of Israel,andhis Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of theLordthat is faithful,eventhe Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.

8 Thus saith theLord, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages;

9 saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew 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 smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

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

12 Lo, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

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

14 But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.

15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee.

16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

17 Thy children make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith theLord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thyself with them, like a bride.

19 For, as for thy waste and thy desolate places and thy land that hath been destroyed, surely now shalt thou be too strait for the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

20 The children of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?

22 Thus saith the LordGODBehold, I will lift up mine hand to the nations, and set up my ensign to the peoples: and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall he carried upon their shoulders.

23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am theLord, and they that wait for me shall not be ashamed.

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

25 But thus saith theLord, 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 that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I theLordam thy saviour, and thy redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

1 Thus saith theLord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, wherewith I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.

2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

4 The LordGODhath given me the tongue of them that are taught, that I should know how to sustain with words him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as they that are taught.

5 The LordGODhath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward.

6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

7 For the LordGODwill help me; therefore have I not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

8 He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand up together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9 Behold, the LordGODwill help me; who is he that shall condemn me? behold, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

10 Who is among you that feareth theLord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? he that walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the name of theLord, and stay upon his God.

11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands: walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek theLord: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged.

2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.

3 For theLordhath comforted Zion: he hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of theLord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

4 Attend unto me, O my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall go forth from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the peoples.

5 My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye dismayed at their revilings.

8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation unto all generations.

9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of theLord; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Art thou not it that cut Rahab in pieces, that pierced the dragon?

10 Art thou not it which dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?

11 And the ransomed of theLordshall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy,andsorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;

13 and hast forgotten theLordthy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he maketh ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 The captive exile shall speedily be loosed; and he shall not dieand go downinto the pit, neither shall his bread fail.

15 For I am theLordthy God, which stirreth up the sea, that the waves thereof roar: theLordof hosts is his name.

16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of theLordthe cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.

18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.

19 These two things are befallen thee; who shall bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort thee?

20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the top of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the fury of theLord, the rebuke of thy God.

21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:

22 Thus saith thy Lord theLord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

23 and I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy back as the ground, and as the street, to them that go over.

1 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit thee down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion,

3 For thus saith theLord, Ye were sold for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.

4 For thus saith the LordGODMy people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

5 Now therefore, what do I here, saith theLord, seeing that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them do howl, saith theLord, and my name continually all the day is blasphemed.

6 Therefore my people shall know my name: thereforethey shall knowin that day that I am he that doth speak; behold, it is I.

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

8 The voice of thy watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see, eye to eye, when theLordreturneth to Zion.

9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for theLordhath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.

10 TheLordhath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of theLord.

12 For ye shall not go out in haste, neither shall ye go by flight: for theLordwill go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward.

13 Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.

14 Like as many were astonied at thee, (his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men,)

15 so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand.

1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of theLordbeen revealed?

2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and theLordhath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, yet he humbled himself and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened not his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, whoamong themconsidered that he was cut off out of the land of the living? for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his month.

10 Yet it pleased theLordto bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall seehisseed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of theLordshall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul,andshall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many: and he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith theLord.

2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.

3 For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more.

5 For thy Maker is thine husband; theLordof hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.

6 For theLordhath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God.

7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.

8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith theLordthy redeemer.

9 For this isasthe waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith theLordthat hath mercy on thee.

11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

12 And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of pleasant stones.

13 And all thy children shall be taught of theLord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.

15 Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee.

16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the fire of coals, and bringeth forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of theLord, and their righteousness which is of me, saith theLord.

1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.

5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and a nation that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of theLordthy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

6 Seek ye theLordwhile he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto theLord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith theLord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

11 so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to theLordfor a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

1 Thus saith theLord, Keep ye judgment, and do righteousness: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that holdeth fast by it; that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

3 Neither let the stranger, that hath joined himself to theLord, speak, saying, TheLordwill surely separate me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.

4 For thus saith theLordof the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast by my covenant:

5 Unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

6 Also the strangers, that join themselves to theLord, to minister unto him, and to love the name of theLord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast by my covenant;

7 even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar: for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all peoples.

8 The LordGODwhich gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gatherothersto him, beside his own that are gathered.

9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour,yea, all ye beasts in the forest.

10 His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.

11 Yea, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds that cannot understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.

12 Come ye,say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day,a daygreat beyond measure.