“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Fear not…Don’t be afraid…
For the LORD has called you back from your grief…
…the mountains may move and the hills disappear,
but even then my faithful love for you will remain…
…I will rebuild you with precious jewels…
…You will live in peace,
and terror will not come near.
…no weapon turned against you will succeed…
These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD;
their vindication will come from me.
I, the LORD, have spoken!
Isaiah 54:4, 6, 10, 11, 14, 17
…”I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you what is good for you
and leads you along the paths you should follow.
Oh, that you had listened to my commands!
Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river
and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.
Remember the things I have done in the past.
For I alone am God!
I am God, and there is none like me.
Only I can tell you the future
before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
for I do whatever I wish.
…”I am the LORD, who made all things.
I alone stretched out the heavens.
Who was with me when I made the earth?
I expose the false prophets as liars
and make fools of fortune-tellers…
But I carry out the predictions of my prophets!…
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.’”
I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose,
and I will guide his actions…
I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
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.
Who has done such mighty deeds,
summoning each new generation from the beginning of time?
It is I, the LORD, the First and the Last.
I alone am he.
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
…how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles?
…how can you say God ignores your rights?
Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The LORD is the everlasting God,the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in power.
He will rule with a powerful arm.
See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
To whom can you compare God?
What image can you find to resemble him?
Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold,
overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand?
Are you deaf to the words of God—
the words he gave before the world began?
Are you so ignorant?
God sits above the circle of the earth…
He spreads out the heavens like a curtain
and makes his tent from them.
