The Berean Pursuit
"Be silent before Me, O islands,
and let the peoples renew their strength.
Let them come forward and testify;
let us together draw near for judgment.
Who has aroused one from the east
and called him to his feet in righteousness?
He hands nations over to him
and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust with his sword,
to windblown chaff with his bow.
He pursues them, going on safely,
hardly touching the path with his feet.
Who has performed this and carried it out,
calling forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the LORD-the first and the last-
I am He."
The islands see and fear;
the ends of the earth tremble.
They approach and come forward.
Each one helps the other
and says to his brother, "Be strong!"
The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
and he who wields the hammer
cheers him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the welding, "It is good."
He nails it down so it will not be toppled.
"But you, O Israel, My servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
descendant of Abraham My friend-
I brought you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corners.
I said, 'You are My servant.'
I have chosen and not rejected you.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you; I will surely help you;
I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.
Behold, all who rage against you
will be ashamed and disgraced;
those who contend with you
will be reduced to nothing and will perish.
You will seek them but will not find them.
Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.
For I am the LORD your God,
who takes hold of your right hand
and tells you: Do not fear,
I will help you.
Do not fear, O worm of Jacob,
O few men of Israel.
I will help you," declares the LORD.
"Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge,
new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
and reduce the hills to chaff.
You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away;
a gale will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the LORD;
you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open rivers on the barren heights,
and fountains in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water,
and the dry land into flowing springs.
I will plant cedars in the wilderness,
acacias, myrtles, and olive trees.
I will set cypresses in the desert,
elms and boxwood together,
so that all may see and know,
may consider and understand,
that the hand of the LORD has done this
and the Holy One of Israel has created it."
"Present your case," says the LORD.
"Submit your arguments," says the King of Jacob.
"Let them come and tell us what will happen.
Tell the former things,
so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming.
Tell us the things that are to come,
so that we may know that you are gods.
Yes, do something good or evil,
that we may look on together in dismay.
Behold, you are nothing
and your work is of no value.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
I have raised up one from the north, and he has come-
one from the east who calls on My name.
He will march over rulers as if they were mortar,
like a potter who treads the clay.
Who has declared this from the beginning,
so that we may know,
and from times past,
so that we may say: 'He was right'?
No one announced it, no one foretold it,
no one heard your words.
I was the first to tell Zion:
'Look, here they are!'
And I gave to Jerusalem
a herald of good news.
When I look, there is no one;
there is no counselor among them;
when I ask them,
they have nothing to say.
See, they are all a delusion;
their works amount to nothing;
their images are as empty as the wind.
"Here is My Servant, whom I uphold,
My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights.
I will put My Spirit on Him,
and He will bring justice to the nations.
He will not cry out or raise His voice,
nor make His voice heard in the streets.
A bruised reed He will not break
and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow weak or discouraged
before He has established justice on the earth.
In His law the islands will put their hope."
This is what God the LORD says-
He who created the heavens
and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and its offspring,
who gives breath to the people on it
and life to those who walk in it:
"I, the LORD, have called you
for a righteous purpose,
and I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and appoint you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light to the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring prisoners out of the dungeon
and those sitting in darkness
out from the prison house.
I am the LORD;
that is My name!
I will not yield My glory to another
or My praise to idols.
Behold, the former things have happened,
and now I declare new things.
Before they spring forth
I proclaim them to you."
Sing to the LORD a new song-
His praise from the ends of the earth-
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who dwell in them.
Let the desert and its cities raise their voices;
let the villages of Kedar cry aloud.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
let them cry out from the mountaintops.
Let them give glory to the LORD
and declare His praise in the islands.
The LORD goes forth like a mighty one;
He stirs up His zeal like a warrior.
He shouts; yes, He roars
in triumph over His enemies:
"I have kept silent from ages past;
I have remained quiet and restrained.
But now I will groan like a woman in labor;
I will at once gasp and pant.
I will lay waste the mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn the rivers into dry land
and drain the marshes.
I will lead the blind by a way they did not know;
I will guide them on unfamiliar paths.
I will turn darkness into light before them
and rough places into level ground.
These things I will do for them,
and I will not forsake them.
But those who trust in idols
and say to molten images, 'You are our gods!'
will be turned back in utter shame.
Listen, you deaf ones;
look, you blind ones, that you may see!
Who is blind but My servant,
or deaf like the messenger I am sending?
Who is blind like My covenant partner,
or blind like the servant of the LORD?
Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch.
Though your ears are open, you do not hear."
The LORD was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness,
to magnify His law and make it glorious.
But this is a people plundered and looted,
all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons.
They have become plunder with no one to rescue them,
and loot with no one to say, "Send them back!"
Who among you will pay attention to this?
Who will listen and obey hereafter?
Who gave Jacob up for spoil,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the LORD,
against whom we have sinned?
They were unwilling to walk in His ways,
and they would not obey His law.
So He poured out on them His furious anger
and the fierceness of battle.
It enveloped them in flames,
but they did not understand;
it consumed them,
but they did not take it to heart.
Now this is what the LORD says-
He who created you, O Jacob,
and He who formed you, O Israel:
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name; you are Mine!
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you go through the rivers,
they will not overwhelm you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be scorched;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your place.
Because you are precious and honored in My sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you
and nations in place of your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east
and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back!'
Bring My sons from afar,
and My daughters from the ends of the earth-
everyone called by My name and created for My glory,
whom I have indeed formed and made."
Bring out a people who have eyes but are blind,
and who have ears but are deaf.
All the nations gather together
and the peoples assemble.
Who among them can declare this,
and proclaim to us the former things?
Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them,
so that others may hear and say, "It is true."
"You are My witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and My servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may consider and believe Me
and understand that I am He.
Before Me no god was formed,
and after Me none will come.
I, yes I, am the LORD,
and there is no Savior but Me.
I alone decreed and saved and proclaimed-
I, and not some foreign god among you.
So you are My witnesses," declares the LORD,
"that I am God.
Even from eternity I am He,
and none can deliver out of My hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?"
Thus says the LORD your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:
"For your sake, I will send to Babylon
and bring them all as fugitives,
even the Chaldeans,
in the ships in which they rejoice.
I am the LORD, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, and your King."
Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea
and a path through the surging waters,
who brings out the chariots and horses,
the armies and warriors together,
to lie down, never to rise again;
to be extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
"Do not call to mind the former things;
pay no attention to the things of old.
Behold, I am about to do something new;
even now it is coming. Do you not see it?
Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
The beasts of the field will honor Me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert,
to give drink to My chosen people.
The people I formed for Myself
will declare My praise.
But you have not called on Me, O Jacob,
because you have grown weary of Me, O Israel.
You have not brought Me sheep for burnt offerings,
nor honored Me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
nor wearied you with frankincense.
You have not bought Me sweet cane with your silver,
nor satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened Me with your sins;
you have wearied Me with your iniquities.
I, yes I, am He
who blots out your transgressions for My own sake
and remembers your sins no more.
Remind Me, let us argue the matter together.
State your case, so that you may be vindicated.
Your first father sinned,
and your spokesmen rebelled against Me.
So I will disgrace the princes of your sanctuary,
and I will devote Jacob to destruction and Israel to reproach."
But now listen, O Jacob My servant,
Israel, whom I have chosen.
This is the word of the LORD, your Maker,
who formed you from the womb and who will help you:
"Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant,
Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and currents on the dry ground.
I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants,
and My blessing on your offspring.
They will sprout among the grass
like willows by flowing streams.
One will say, 'I belong to the LORD,'
another will call himself by the name of Jacob,
and still another will write on his hand, 'The LORD's,'
and will take the name of Israel."
Thus says the LORD,
the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts:
"I am the first and I am the last,
and there is no God but Me.
Who then is like Me?
Let him say so!
Let him declare his case before Me,
since I established an ancient people.
Let him foretell the things to come,
and what is to take place.
Do not tremble or fear.
Have I not told you and declared it long ago?
You are My witnesses!
Is there any God but Me?
There is no other Rock;
I know not one."
All makers of idols are nothing,
and the things they treasure are worthless.
Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend,
so they are put to shame.
Who fashions a god or casts an idol
which profits him nothing?
Behold, all his companions will be put to shame,
for the craftsmen themselves are only human.
Let them all assemble and take their stand;
they will all be brought to terror and shame.
The blacksmith takes a tool
and labors over the coals;
he fashions an idol with hammers
and forges it with his strong arms.
Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength;
he fails to drink water and grows faint.
The woodworker extends a measuring line;
he marks it out with a stylus;
he shapes it with chisels
and outlines it with a compass.
He fashions it in the likeness of man,
like man in all his glory,
that it may dwell in a shrine.
He cuts down cedars
or retrieves a cypress or oak.
He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.
He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.
It serves as fuel for man.
He takes some of it to warm himself,
and he kindles a fire
and bakes his bread;
he even fashions it into a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.
He burns half of it in the fire,
and he roasts meat on that half.
He eats the roast and is satisfied.
Indeed, he warms himself and says,
"Ah! I am warm; I see the fire."
From the rest he makes a god, his graven image.
He bows down to it and worships;
he prays to it and says,
"Save me, for you are my god."
They do not comprehend or discern,
for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see
and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
And no one considers in his heart,
no one has the knowledge or insight to say,
"I burned half of it in the fire,
and I baked bread on its coals;
I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it?
Shall I bow down to a block of wood?"
He feeds on ashes.
His deluded heart has led him astray,
and he cannot deliver himself or say,
"Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?"
Remember these things, O Jacob,
for you are My servant, O Israel.
I have made you, and you are My servant;
O Israel, I will never forget you.
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud,
and your sins like a mist.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this;
shout aloud, O depths of the earth.
Break forth in song, O mountains,
you forests and all your trees.
For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
and revealed His glory in Israel.
Thus says the LORD,
your Redeemer who formed you from the womb:
"I am the LORD,
who has made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who by Myself spread out the earth,
who foils the signs of false prophets
and makes fools of diviners,
who confounds the wise
and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
who confirms the message of His servant
and fulfills the counsel of His messengers,
who says of Jerusalem,
'She will be inhabited,'
and of the cities of Judah,
'They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,'
who says to the depths of the sea,
'Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,'
who says of Cyrus,
'My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,'
who says of Jerusalem,
'She will be rebuilt,'
and of the temple,
'Let its foundation be laid.'?"