Study Desk

Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered;I mourned like a dove;My eyes fail from looking upward.O Lord, [fn] I am oppressed;Undertake for me!

O Lord, by these things men live; And in all these things is the life of my spirit; So You will restore me and make me live.

Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?" So Hezekiah said, "They came to me from a far country, from Babylon."

And he said, "What have they seen in your house?" So Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."

So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!" For he said, "At least there will be peace and truth in my days."

So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith; He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil, Saying, "It is ready for the soldering"; Then he fastened it with pegs, That it might not totter.

The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals, Fashions it with hammers, And works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails; He drinks no water and is faint.

They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand.

"Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held-- To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:

And you said, "I shall be a lady forever,' So that you did not take these things to heart, Nor remember the latter end of them.

"For My name's sake I will defer My anger, And for My praise I will restrain it from you, So that I do not cut you off.

"And now the Lord says,Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,To bring Jacob back to Him,So that Israel is gathered to Him [fn] (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,And My God shall be My strength),

So the ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men;

15 So shall He sprinkle [fn] many nations.Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;For what had not been told them they shall see,And what they had not heard they shall consider.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

"For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.