^6 (A)Seek the Lord while He may be ^(B)found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
^7 (C)Let the ^[a]wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man ^(D)his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
^(E)And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.

⁸ “For^(F) My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
⁹ “For^(G) as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ “For ^(H)as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
^11 (I)So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me ^[b]void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall ^(J)prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

¹² “For^(K) you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall ^(L)break forth into singing before you,
And ^(M)all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
^13 (N)Instead of ^(O)the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the Lord ^(P)for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
^(Q)For My salvation is about to come,
And My righteousness to be revealed.
² Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
^(R)Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³ Do not let ^(S)the son of the foreigner
Who has joined himself to the Lord
Speak, saying,
“The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”;
Nor let the ^(T)eunuch say,
“Here I am, a dry tree.”
⁴ For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold fast My covenant,
⁵ Even to them I will give in ^(U)My house
And within My walls a place ^(V)and a name
Better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give ^[c]them an everlasting name
That shall not be cut off.

⁶ “Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant—
⁷ Even them I will ^(W)bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My ^(X)house of prayer.
^(Y)Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be ^(Z)accepted on My altar;
For ^(AA)My house shall be called a house of prayer ^(AB)for all nations.”
⁸ The Lord God, ^(AC)who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,
^(AD)“Yet I will gather to him
Others besides those who are gathered to him.”

⁴ “I will heal their ^(E)backsliding,
I will ^(F)love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from him.
⁵ I will be like the ^(G)dew to Israel;
He shall ^[b]grow like the lily,
And ^[c]lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
⁶ His branches shall ^[d]spread;
^(H)His beauty shall be like an olive tree,
And ^(I)his fragrance like Lebanon.
^7 (J)Those who dwell under his shadow shall return;
They shall be revived like grain,
And ^[e]grow like a vine.
Their ^[f]scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’
I have heard and observed him.
I am like a green cypress tree;
^(K)Your fruit is found in Me.”

⁹ Who is wise?
Let him understand these things.
Who is prudent?
Let him know them.
For ^(L)the ways of the Lord are right;
The righteous walk in them,
But transgressors stumble in them.

^(D)He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in ^(E)mercy.^[a]
19 He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.

You will cast all ^[b]our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
^20 (F)You will give truth to Jacob
And ^[c]mercy to Abraham,
^(G)Which You have sworn to our fathers
From days of old.

^15 (A)Blow the ^[a]trumpet in Zion,
^(B)Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
¹⁶ Gather the people,
^(C)Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
^(D)Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.
¹⁷ Let the priests, who minister to the Lord,
Weep ^(E)between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, ^(F)“Spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should ^[b]rule over them.
^(G)Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”

²⁰ “But ^(K)I will remove far from you ^(L)the northern army,
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,
With his face toward the eastern sea
And his back ^(M)toward the western sea;
His stench will come up,
And his foul odor will rise,
Because he has done ^[c]monstrous things.”

²¹ Fear not, O land;
Be glad and rejoice,
For the Lord has done ^[d]marvelous things!
²² Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field;
For ^(N)the open pastures are springing up,
And the tree bears its fruit;
The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
²³ Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And ^(O)rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the ^[e]former rain faithfully,
And He ^(P)will cause the rain to come down for you—
The former rain,
And the latter rain in the first month.
²⁴ The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵ “So I will restore to you the years ^(Q)that the swarming ^[f]locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
²⁶ You shall ^(R)eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people shall never be put to ^(S)shame.
²⁷ Then you shall know that I am ^(T)in the midst of Israel:
^(U)I am the Lord your God
And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to shame.