Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran: The Pillars of Three Faiths. Various Authors
done;Saying: 'My counsel shall stand,And all My pleasure will I do';11Calling a bird of prey from the east,The man of My counsel from a far country;Yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass,I have purposed, I will also do it. 12Hearken unto Me, ye stout-hearted,That are far from righteousness:13I bring near My righteousness, it shall not be far off,And My salvation shall not tarry;And I will place salvation in ZionFor Israel My glory. 47Come 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 calledTender and delicate.2Take the millstones, and grind meal;Remove thy veil,Strip off the train, uncover the leg,Pass through the rivers.3Thy nakedness shall be uncovered,Yea, thy shame shall be seen;I will take vengeance,And will let no man intercede.4Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,The Holy One of Israel.5Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness,O daughter of the Chaldeans;For thou shalt no more be calledThe mistress of kingdoms.6I was wroth with My people,I profaned Mine inheritance,And gave them into thy hand;Thou didst show them no mercy;Upon the aged hast thou very heavilyLaid thy yoke.7And thou saidst:'For ever shall I be mistress';So that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart,Neither didst remember the end thereof. 8Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures,That sittest securely,That sayest in thy 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';9But these two things shall come to thee in a momentIn one day, the loss of children, and widowhood;In their full measure shall they come upon thee,For the multitude of thy sorceries,And the great abundance of thine enchantments. 10And thou hast been secure in thy wickedness,Thou hast said: 'None seeth me';Thy wisdom and thy knowledge,It hath perverted thee;And thou hast said in thy heart.'I am, and there is none else beside me.'11Yet shall evil came upon thee;Thou shalt not know how to charm it away;And calamity shall fall upon thee;Thou shalt not be able to put it away;And ruin shall come upon thee suddenly,Before thou knowest. 12Stand 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.13Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels;Let now the astrologers, the stargazers,The monthly prognosticators,Stand up, and save theeFrom the things that shall come upon thee.14Behold, they shall be as stubble;The fire shall burn them;They shall not deliver themselvesFrom the power of the flame;It shall not be a coal to warm at,Nor a fire to sit before.15Thus shall they be unto theeWith whom thou hast laboured;They that have trafficked with thee from thy youthShall wander every one to his quarter;There shall be none to save thee. 48Hear ye this, O house of Jacob,Who are called by the name of Israel,And are come forth out of the fountain of Judah;Who swear by the name of the Lord,And make mention of the God of Israel,But not in truth, nor in righteousness.2For they call themselves of the holy city,And stay themselves upon the God of Israel,The Lord of hosts is His name.3I have declared the former things from of old;Yea, they went forth out of My mouth, and I announced them;Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.4Because I knew that thou art obstinate,And thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;5Therefore I have declared it to thee from of old;Before it came to pass I announced it to thee;Lest thou shouldest say: 'Mine idol hath done them,And my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.'6Thou hast heard, see, all this;And ye, will ye not declare it?I have announced unto thee new things from this time,Even hidden things, which thou hast not known.7They are created now, and not from of old,And before this day thou heardest them not;Lest thou shouldest say: 'Behold, I knew them.'8Yea, thou heardest not;Yea, thou knewest not;Yea, from of old thine ear was not opened;For I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously,And wast called a transgressor from the womb.9For My name's sake will I defer Mine anger,And for My praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.10Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver;I have tried thee in the furnace of affliction.11For Mine own sake, for Mine own sake, will I do it;For how should it be profaned?And My glory will I not give to another. 12Hearken unto Me, O Jacob,And Israel My called:I am He; I am the first,I also am the last.13Yea, My 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.14Assemble yourselves, all ye, and hear;Which among them hath declared these things?He whom the Lord loveth shall perform His pleasure on Babylon,And show His arm on the Chaldeans.15I, even I, have spoken, yea, I have called him;I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 16Come 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 Lord God hath sent me, and His spirit. 17Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer,The Holy One of Israel:I am the Lord thy God,Who teacheth thee for thy profit,Who leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.18Oh that thou wouldest hearken to My commandments!Then would thy peace be as a river,And thy righteousness as the waves of the sea;19Thy seed also would be as the sand,And the offspring of thy body like the grains thereof;His name would not be cut offNor destroyed from before Me. 20Go ye forth from Babylon,Flee ye from the Chaldeans;With a voice of singingDeclare ye, tell this,Utter it even to the end of the earth;Say ye: 'The Lord hath redeemed His servant Jacob.21And they thirsted notWhen He led them through the deserts;He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them;He cleaved the rock also, and the waters gushed out.'22There is no peace,Saith the Lord concerning the wicked. 49Listen, O isles, unto me,And hearken, ye peoples, from far:The Lord hath called me from the womb,From the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name;2And 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 concealed me;3And He said unto me: 'Thou art My servant,Israel, in whom I will be glorified.'4But I said: 'I have laboured in vain,I have spent my strength for nought and vanity;Yet surely my right is with the Lord,And my recompense with my God.'5And now saith the LordThat formed me from the womb to be His servant,To bring Jacob back to Him,And that Israel be gathered unto Him—For I am honourable in the eyes of the Lord,And my God is become my strength—6Yea, He saith: 'It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be My servantTo raise up the tribes of Jacob,And to restore the offspring of Israel;I will also give thee for a light of the nations,That My salvation may be unto the end of the earth.' 7Thus saith the Lord,The Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One,To him who is despised of men,To him who is abhorred of nations,To a servant of rulers:Kings shall see and arise,Princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;Because of the Lord that is faithful,Even the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee. 8Thus saith the Lord: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 theeFor a covenant of the people,To raise up the land,To cause to inherit the desolate heritages;9Saying to the prisoners: 'Go forth';To them that are in darkness: 'Show yourselves';They shall feed in the ways,And in all high hills shall be their pasture;10They shall not hunger nor thirst,Neither shall the heat nor sun smite them;For He that hath compassion on them will lead them,Even by the springs of water will He guide them.11And I will make all My mountains a way,And My highways shall be raised on high.12Behold, these shall come from far;And, lo, these from the north and from the west,And these from the land of Sinim. 13Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth,And break forth into singing, O mountains;For the Lord hath comforted His people,And hath compassion upon His afflicted. 14But Zion said: 'The Lord hath forsaken me,And the Lord hath forgotten me.'15Can 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.16Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands;Thy walls are continually before Me.17Thy children make haste;Thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth from thee.18Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold:All these gather themselves together, and come to thee.As I live, saith the Lord,Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament,And gird thyself with them, like a bride.19For thy waste and thy desolate placesAnd 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.20The children of thy bereavementShall yet say in thine ears:'The place is too strait for me;Give place to me that I may dwell.'21Then shalt thou say in thy heart:'Who hath