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"Then the spirit of the Egyptians will become exhausted within them and emptied out; And I will confuse their strategy, So that they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, And mediums and soothsayers.

The city of chaos is broken down; Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.

"I, the LORD, am its Keeper; I water it every moment. So that no one will harm it, I guard it night and day.

For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, so that there is no place [that is clean.]

Now, go, write it on a tablet before them And inscribe it on a scroll, So that it may serve in the time to come As a witness [against them] forevermore.

"Listen carefully, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'"

"Now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know and fully realize that You alone, LORD, are God."

So the craftsman encourages the goldsmith, And he who smooths metal with the smith's hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, Saying of the soldering (welding), "That is good"; And he fastens the idol with nails, So that it will not totter nor be moved.

So that they may see and know, And consider and understand together, That the hand of the LORD has done this, That the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Who [among the idols] has declared this from the beginning, so that we could know? Or from earlier times, so that we could say, "He is [unquestionably] right!"? In fact, there was no one who declared it, Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it; There was no one at all who heard you speak [for you pagan gods are speechless].

All the nations have gathered together So that the peoples may be assembled. Who among them (the idolaters) can predict this [that Judah would return from captivity] And proclaim to us the former events? Let them provide their witnesses so that they may be justified, Or let them hear and say [in acknowledgement], "It is the truth."

All who make carved idols are nothing. Their precious objects are worthless [to them], and their own witnesses (worshipers) fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.

They do not know, nor do they understand, for God has muddied their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts (minds) as well so that they cannot understand.

That kind of man (the idolater) feeds on ashes [and is satisfied with ashes]! A deceived mind has led him astray, so that he cannot save himself, or ask, "Is this thing [that I am holding] in my right hand not a lie?"

This is what the LORD says to His anointed, to Cyrus [king of Persia], Whose right hand I have held To subdue nations before him, And I will ungird the loins of kings [disarming them]; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

"I will give you the treasures of darkness [the hoarded treasures] And the hidden riches of secret places, So that you may know that it is I, The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you (Cyrus the Great) by your name.

I have declared them to you long ago; Before they came to pass I announced them to you, So that you could not say, 'My idol has done them, And my carved image and my cast image have commanded them.'

"They are created now [called into being by the prophetic word] and not long ago; And before today you have not heard of them, So that you will not say, 'Oh yes! I knew them.'

"For the sake of My Name I refrain from My wrath, And for My praise I restrain Myself from you, So that I do not cut you off.

"For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of hosts is His name.