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13 And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men:

14 Therefore behold I will proceed to cause an admiration in this people, by a great and wonderful miracle: for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

15 Woe to you that are deep of heart, to hide your counsel from the Lord: and their works are in the dark, and they say: Who seeth us, and who knoweth us?

16 This thought of yours is perverse: as if the clay should think against the potter, and the work should say to the maker thereof: Thou madest me not: or the thing framed should say to him that fashioned it: Thou understandest not.

17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Libanus shall be turned into charmel, and charmel shall be esteemed as a forest?

18 And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind shall see.

19 And the meek shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For he that did prevail hath failed, the scorner is consumed, and they are all cut off that watched for iniquity:

21 That made men sin by word, and supplanted him that reproved them in the gate, and declined in vain from the just.

22 Therefore thus saith the Lord to the house of Jacob, he that redeemed Abraham: Jacob shall not now be confounded, neither shall his countenance now be ashamed:

23 But when he shall see his children, the work of my hands in the midst of him sanctifying my name, and they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall glorify the God of Israel:

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13 The Lord says:

“These people(A) come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,(B)
    but their hearts are far from me.(C)
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[a](D)
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;(E)
the wisdom of the wise(F) will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.(G)
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
    to hide(H) their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
    “Who sees us?(I) Who will know?”(J)
16 You turn things upside down,
    as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!(K)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed(L) it,
    “You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,(M)
    “You know nothing”?(N)

17 In a very short time,(O) will not Lebanon(P) be turned into a fertile field(Q)
    and the fertile field seem like a forest?(R)
18 In that day(S) the deaf(T) will hear the words of the scroll,
    and out of gloom and darkness(U)
    the eyes of the blind will see.(V)
19 Once more the humble(W) will rejoice in the Lord;
    the needy(X) will rejoice in the Holy One(Y) of Israel.
20 The ruthless(Z) will vanish,(AA)
    the mockers(AB) will disappear,
    and all who have an eye for evil(AC) will be cut down—
21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
    who ensnare the defender in court(AD)
    and with false testimony(AE) deprive the innocent of justice.(AF)

22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed(AG) Abraham,(AH) says to the descendants of Jacob:

“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;(AI)
    no longer will their faces grow pale.(AJ)
23 When they see among them their children,(AK)
    the work of my hands,(AL)
they will keep my name holy;(AM)
    they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One(AN) of Jacob,
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules