“From the very beginning, I am the only God!
No one can be snatched from my hand.
When I choose to act, who can reverse it?”
This is what YAHWEH,
your Kinsman-Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“For your good, I will send for the Babylonians;
I will bring them all as fugitives
and turn the shouting of the Chaldeans into mourning.
I am YAHWEH, your Holy One and your King,
the Creator of Israel.”
YAHWEH is the one who makes a way in the sea,
a pathway in the mighty waters.
He destroyed chariots and horses
and all their mighty warriors.
They fell, never to rise again—
gone forever, snuffed out like a wick. This is what he says:
“Stop dwelling on the past.
Don’t even remember these former things.
I am doing something brand new, something unheard of.
Even now it sprouts and grows and matures.
Don’t you perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and open up flowing streams in the desert.
Wild beasts, jackals, and owls will glorify me.
For I supply streams of water in the desert
and rivers in the wilderness
to satisfy the thirst of my people, my chosen ones,
so that you, whom I have shaped and formed for myself,
will proclaim my praise.
Yet you did not call out to me, O Jacob.
Are you so weary of me, O Israel?
You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you by requiring many grain offerings
or wearied you with demands for frankincense.
You did not buy me fragrant calamus reeds
or lavish me with the fat of your sacrifices.
Instead, you have burdened me with your many sins
and wearied me with your evil deeds.
I, yes I, am the One and Only,
who completely erases your sins, never to be seen again.
I will not remember them again.
Freely I do this because of who I am!
Help me remember the past. Let’s debate!
Bring me your version to prove your innocence.
Your earliest ancestor sinned,
and your spokesmen rebelled against me.
So I brought disgrace on the holy priests
of the holy sanctuary
and brought destruction to Jacob,
humiliation and scorn to Israel.
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