13. I, the Lord your God, hold your right handand say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid; I will help you.’
14. Don’t be afraid, Jacob, you worm.You people of Israel, I will help you,”declares the Lord, your Defender, the Holy One of Israel.
15. “I am going to make you into a new threshing sledgewith sharp, double-edged teeth.You will thresh the mountains and crush them to dust.You will turn the hills into straw.
16. You will winnow them.The wind will carry them away.The windstorm will scatter them.But you will find joy in the Lordand praise the Holy One of Israel.
17. “The poor and needy are looking for water, but there is none.Their tongues are parched with thirst.I, the Lord, will answer them.I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
18. I will make rivers flow on bare hilltops.I will make springs flow through valleys.I will turn deserts into lakes.I will turn dry land into springs.
19. I will plant cedar, acacia, myrtle, and wild olive trees in the desert.I will place cedar, fir, and cypress trees together in the wilderness.
20. People will see and know.Together they will consider and understandthat the Lord’s power has done this,that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21. “Present your case,” says the Lord.“Bring forward your best arguments,” says Jacob’s king.
22. “Bring ⌊your idols⌋ so they can tell us what’s going to happen.Explain past events that your idols told you aboutso that we may consider themand know what their outcome will be.Tell us about future events.
23. Tell us what’s going to happenso that we may know that you are gods.Yes, do something, good or evil,to intimidate us and make us afraid.
24. You are nothing!You can’t do anything!Whoever chooses you is disgusting.
25. “I have raised up someone from the north, and he has come.He will call on my name from the east.He will attack rulers as if they were mud,as if he were treading on clay like a potter.
26. Who revealed this from the beginning so that we could know it?Who revealed this from the past so that we could say that he was right?No one revealed it.No one announced it.No one heard your words.
27. I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are.’I gave Jerusalem a messenger with the good news.
28. When I look, there is no one.There is no one to advise them.When I ask them a question,will they give an answer?
29. All of them are nothing.They can’t do anything.Their statues are nothing but air.”