18. I will open rivers in high places,and fountains in the midst of the valleys;I will make the wilderness a pool of water,and the dry land springs of water.
19. I will plant in the wildernessthe cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive tree;I will set in the desertthe fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together,
20. that they may see, and know,and consider, and understand together,that the hand of the Lord has done this,and the Holy One of Israel has createdit.
21. Present your case, says the Lord.Bring forth your arguments, says the King of Jacob.
22. Let them bring them forth, and show uswhat shall happen;let them show the former things, what they were,that we may consider themand know their outcome,or declare to us things to come.
23. Show the things that are to come hereafter,that we may know that you are gods;do good, or do evil,that we may be dismayed and see it together.
24. Indeed you are nothing,and your work amounts to nothing;he who chooses you is an abomination.
25. I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come;from the rising of the sun he shall call on My name;and he shall come on princes as on mortar,and as the potter treads clay.
26. Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know?And from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?There is no one who shows,no one who declares,no one who hears your words.
27. Formerly I said to Zion, “Look, here they are,”and to Jerusalem, “I will give one who brings good news.”
28. But when I look, there is no man,even among them, and there is no counselorwho, when I ask of them, could answer a word.
29. See, they all are vanity;their works are nothing;their molded images are wind and emptiness.