Study Desk

So that people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no one else,

"So have those become to you with whom you have labored, Those who have done business with you from your youth; Each has wandered in his own way; There is no one to save you.

Therefore I declared them to you long ago, Before they took place I proclaimed them to you, So that you would not say, 'My idol has done them, And my carved image and my cast metal image have commanded them.'

"They are created now and not long ago; And before today you have not heard them, So that you will not say, 'Behold, I knew them.'

And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength),

He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the protected ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

"Why was there no one when I came? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Is My hand so short that it cannot redeem? Or do I have no power to rescue? Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke, I turn rivers into a wilderness; Their fish stink for lack of water, And die of thirst.

The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, So that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

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

"I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, Who have said to you, 'Lie down so that we may walk over you.' You have also made your back like the ground, And like the street for those who walk over it."

The LORD has bared His holy arm In the sight of all the nations, So that all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God.

Just as many were appalled at you, My people, So His appearance was marred beyond that of a man, And His form beyond the sons of mankind.

So He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what they had not been told, they will see, And what they had not heard, they will understand.

He was oppressed and afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.

"For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah Would not flood the earth again; So I have sworn that I will 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 will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.

"Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, To attend to His service and to love the name of the LORD, To be His servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it, And holds firmly to My covenant;

"Come," they say, "let's get wine, and let's drink heavily of intoxicating drink; And tomorrow will be like today, only more so."

"Of whom were you worried and fearful When you lied, and did not remember Me Nor give Me a thought? Was I not silent, even for a long time, So you do not fear Me?