Study Desk

" ‘Haven't you heard? Long ago I made it; in antiquity I produced it; and now I am making it happen: you are turning fortified cities into heaps of ruins,

And because of your rage against me, because of your pride that has reached my ears, I am putting my hook in your nose and my bridle on your lips; and I will make you return by the way on which you came.

"I once said: ‘In the prime of life I am going off to the gates of Sh'ol. I am being deprived of living out the full span of my life.'

I make little chattering sounds like a swallow, I moan aloud like a dove, My eyes are weary with looking upward. Adonai, I am overwhelmed; guarantee my life!'

"With whom, then, will you compare me? With whom am I equal?" asks the Holy One.

Whose work is this? Who has brought it about? He who called the generations from the beginning, "I, Adonai , am the first; and I am the same with those who are last."

Don't be afraid, for I am with you; don't be distressed, for I am your God. I give you strength, I give you help, I support you with my victorious right hand.

I am the first to declare it to Tziyon, to send Yerushalayim a messenger with good news.

I am Adonai ; that is my name. I yield my glory to no one else, nor my praise to any idol.

But now this is what Adonai says, he who created you, Ya‘akov, he who formed you, Isra'el: "Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I am calling you by your name; you are mine.

For I am Adonai , your God, the Holy One of Isra'el, your Savior — I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and S'va for you.

Don't be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your descendants from the east, and I will gather you from the west;

"You are my witnesses," says Adonai , "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you can know and trust me and understand that I am he — no god was produced before me, nor will any be after me.

I, yes I, am Adonai ; besides me there is no deliverer.

I have declared, saved and proclaimed — not some alien god among you. Therefore you are my witnesses," says Adonai . "I am God.

I am Adonai , your Holy One, the Creator of Isra'el, your King."

I am doing something new; it's springing up — can't you see it? I am making a road in the desert, rivers in the wasteland.

I, yes I, am the one who blots out your offenses for my own sake; I will not remember your sins.

Thus says Adonai , Isra'el's King and Redeemer, Adonai -Tzva'ot: "I am the first, and I am the last; besides me there is no God.

Here is what Adonai says, your Redeemer, he who formed you in the womb: "I am Adonai , who makes all things, who stretched out the heavens all alone, who spread out the earth all by myself.