Isaiah 41:17–24

¹⁷“The ¹afflicted and needy are seeking ^awater, but there is none,

And their tongue is parched with thirst;

I, the Lord, ^bwill answer them Myself,

As the God of Israel I ^cwill not forsake them.

¹⁸“I will open ^arivers on the bare heights

And springs in the midst of the valleys;

I will make ^bthe wilderness a pool of water

And the dry land fountains of water.

¹⁹“I will put the cedar in the wilderness,

The acacia and the ^amyrtle and the ¹olive tree;

I will place the juniper in the desert

Together with the box tree and the cypress,

²⁰That ^athey may see and recognize,

And consider and gain insight as well,

That the ^bhand of the Lord has done this,

And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹“¹Present your case,” the Lord says.

“Bring forward your strong arguments,”

The ^aKing of Jacob says.

^22aLet them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;

As for the ^bformer events, declare what they were,

That we may consider them and know their outcome.

Or announce to us what is coming;

^23aDeclare the things that are going to come afterward,

That we may know that you are gods;

Indeed, ^bdo good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.

²⁴Behold, ^ayou are of ¹no account,

And ^byour work amounts to nothing;

He who chooses you is an ^cabomination.