This is what the Lord says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty;
I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing? The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals, he shapes an idol with hammers, and forges it with the might of his arm. He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. He fashions a god and
worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. He prays to it and says, “Save me; you are my god.” Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it. The lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer; it cannot save him from his troubles.
So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. “The more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the baals
and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. My people are determined to turn from me… How can I give up on you, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? My heart is changed within me, all my compassion is aroused…
To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him
to? As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me, for I have redeemed you. The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land. In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it – one from the house of David – one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness. Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.
I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you. They will be called the Holy People, the redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted. I will say to those called “Not My People,” “You are my people,” and they will say “You are my God.” Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and
all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
