21
“Pay attention, O Jacob,
for you are my servant, O Israel.
I, the Lord , made you,
and I will not forget you.
22
I have swept away your sins like a cloud.
I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist.
Oh, return to me,
for I have paid the price to set you free.”
23
Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done this wondrous thing.
Shout for joy, O depths of the earth!
Break into song,
O mountains and forests and every tree!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob
and is glorified in Israel.
24
This is what the Lord says -
your Redeemer and Creator:
“I am the Lord , who made all things.
I alone stretched out the heavens.
Who was with me
when I made the earth?
25
I expose the false prophets as liars
and make fools of fortune-tellers.
I cause the wise to give bad advice,
thus proving them to be fools.
26
But I carry out the predictions of my prophets!
By them I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live here again,’
and to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be rebuilt;
I will restore all your ruins!’
27
When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’
they will be dry.
28
When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’
he will certainly do as I say.
He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’;
he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’”