Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 61

Upon me is the spirit of the LORD
God for the LORD, anointing on me, poured;
to the oppressed he sent me to bring news
that’s good, and to the broken-hearted, soothe,
to captives, to proclaim their liberty,
and tell the prisoners of their release,
the year of the LORD’s favor, to proclaim,
and, of our God, his vengeance, of, the day,
to comfort all who mourn, and to provide,
for those in Zion, mourning, who abide–
instead of mourners’ tears, of gladness, oil,
of praise, a mantle, for each heart that toils.
They, oaks of righteousness, how, will be called,
to show his glory, planted by the LORD.
The ancient ruins, up, what they will build,
the former devastations, up, they’ll raise,
the ruined cities, what, repair, they will,
that, desolate, for generations, laid.

Then foreigners, stand and, your flocks, feed, shall 
and aliens will dress your vines and till
your land, but how it is that you’ll be called
priests of the LORD; you shall be, of our God,
named ministers, and what you shall enjoy,
the wealth of nations, and you’ll glorify
in all their riches, they’ll, you, satisfy.
Because what they received was double shame,
and, as their lot, dishonor was proclaimed,
therefore, how in their land, they shall possess,
a double portion, their inheritance,
of everlasting joy as recompense.

For I, the LORD, love justice, and I hate,
both robbery, wrongdoing, and, the same;
as their reward, them, I’ll give faithfully,
a covenant that lasts unendingly,
I will make with them. Their descendants shall
be known among the nations and as well,
their offspring ‘mongst the peoples; who see, all,
them shall acknowledge how they are a race
blessed by the LORD.  I, greatly, will rejoice,
the LORD, in; and how, shall, my being, whole
exult in my God for how he has clothed,
me, garments, in, of it, deliverance,
and covered me in robes of righteousness,
like, with a garland, how the bridegroom’s decked,
and as a bride wears jewels around her neck.
For as the earth sends up its blossoms, shoots,
and how the garden makes the seeds, up, sprout,
so will the LORD God, righteousness and praise,
to spring up in their sight, before them, make,
the nations, how he will upon that day.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 60

For, how your light has come, arise, arise,
the glory of the LORD, upon you, shines.
The earth, though darkness covers, and thick night,
the peoples, cover, on you, the LORD shines,
and over you his glory will arise.
How nations, they will journey toward your light,
and kings come to your radiance that’s bright.

Lift up your gaze, around yourselves, give sight:
to come to you, they all are gathering,
from far away, your sons are journeying,
their nurses are, your daughters, carrying.
You’ll see it, joyful radiance, you’ll know,
and your heart will both throb and overflow,
for how the riches of the sea will be
before you, emptied out, and they proceed
to lay the wealth of nations at your feet.
In caravans, the camels fill your streets,
the camels, young, from Midian, those ones, 
and Ephah, and those that from Sheba come, 
they’re bringing frankincense and also gold 
and shall, the praises of the LORD, be told.
All Kedar’s flocks will, to you, gathered, be, 
the rams of Nebioth will serve your needs;
how they’ll be offerings, acceptable
on, altar, my, and I’ll make plentiful,
the, glory of my house, incredible.

Who are these that are flying like the clouds,
that fly like doves back to their, dovecotes, found?
Why, both the coasts and islands of the sea,
they put their hope in me, and in the lead,
the ships of Tarshish, they, your children hold,
they bring them from afar with silver, gold,
to the honor of the LORD your God, it’s told,
and to the holy one of Israel,
he who, with splendor, has endowed you well.
How foreigners, they shall rebuild your walls
and how their kings, you, minister to, shall, 
for in my wrath was how I struck you down,
but in my favor, I’ve made mercy known
to you.  Shall always, open, be, your gates, 
they never shall be shut, both night and day 
so that the nations, you, their wealth, shall bring, 
and the processions, who lead them: their kings. 
For if a nation or a kingdom won’t
serve you, they’ll perish, and all nations, those,
will be, to waste, laid, utterly destroyed.
Of Lebanon, its glory is deployed
to you, it’s of the cypress, plane, and pine,
to, beauty, bring, to, sanctuary, my;
and where my feet rest, I will glorify.
Oppressors’ sons, your, with humility,
approach you, bending low down at your feet.
They shall call you “The City of The LORD”,
the Zion, Is’rael’s Holy One, adored.
Whereas before, your presence was eschewed,
and hated, with nobody passing through.
I will make you one of eternal pride,
a source, of joy, an object, that won’t die.
You’ll suck the nations’ milk and will be blessed,
and you’ll be nursed at them, the royal breasts.
Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your
Deliverer and too, Redeemer, your,
the Mighty One of Jacob for you, sure.

Instead of bronze, it’s gold, to you, I’ll bring,
and for some iron I will, silver, bring,
instead of wood, how I will bring you bronze,
and iron, I’ll bring you in place of stones.
I will appoint Peace as your governor
and Saving Justice is who you will serve.
No longer will, of violence, the sound, 
be heard within the places of your land,
not devastation or destruction will
be in your boundaries.  Then you will call
your gates: “Praise”, and “Salvation” are your walls.
The sun won’t any longer be your light
by day nor will the moon shine bright by night.
The LORD will be your everlasting light,
your God shall be your splendor, you will find.
Your sun, how it shall ne’er again go down,
withdraw her light, nor ever shall your moon, 
but he, the LORD, will, everlasting, be
your light, and mourning’s days, you’ll no more see.
Your people, all of them, shall, righteous, be
and they, the land, possess, unendingly.
They are the shoot I, to the ground, bestowed,
my handiwork to, my great glory, show.
The least of them, a thousand, shall become,
the smallest, a great nation, into one.
It’s I, the LORD, at their appointed time,
cause all these things, reality, to find.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 59

Too short to save? See, the LORD’s hand is not,
nor is his ear too dull to hear, but it
is your iniquities that separate
you from your God. It is your sins that make
him hide his face from you so that he won’t
hear you. For how your hands, with blood are stained,
and how your fingers have been dipped in guilt;
your lips have spoken lies and it’s deceit
that your tongue utters.  No one brings their suit
with upright cause, or pleading honestly;
rely, they, on pleas, empty, lies, they speak,
conceiving mischief and iniquity,
begetting.  They’ve snakes’ eggs, their hatchery,
in, and it’s cobwebs, that is what they weave.
Whoever will consume those eggs will die,
for rotten eggs have rottenness inside.
Their webs, for making cloth, cannot be used;
for clothing, their works, nobody would choose.
Their works are all works of iniquity,
and in their hands, of violence, are deeds.
To evil, where they run upon their feet
and they rush to shed blood that’s innocent;
their thoughts are thoughts of guilt, maleficent,
both havoc, too, and ruin, what they leave
behind where’er they go.  The way of peace,
they do not know, and justice, there is no,
in their paths.  They’ve made crooked all their roads
and, any peace, who treads them, no one knows.

This is why justice is removed from us,
and how it’s far from our reach, righteousness;
we wait for light, but, only darkness, see;
for daybreak, but in gloom, how we proceed.
We grope along the wall like men who’re blind,
we feel our way like people without eyes.
We stumble at midday just as at dusk,
like we are dead, we move with the robust.
Like bears, we all growl, mournfully, like doves,
we moan.  We wait for justice but there’s none,
deliverance, for, but it’s far from us.
How often, we, against you, have rebelled,
and our sins, witness, bear, ‘gainst us, as well.
Yes, our offenses are with us indeed
and we know all of our iniquities:
transgressing, and, the LORD, denying him,
and turning back, our God, from following,
we threaten outrage and apostasy
and utter falsehoods that our hearts conceived.
Fair judgment, how it’s driven far away
and, stands aloof, the justice that would save,
for, stumbles, truth, out in the public square,
and honesty, it cannot enter there.
Good faith has vanished and the man who flees
from evil is despoiled entirely.

The LORD saw it, and how it, him, displeased,
that there was, justice, no, and too, was, he
appalled when there were none to intervene;
so his own might brought him the victory,
his righteousness supported him, beneath.
How justice, what he wore to plate his breast,
salvation as a helmet on his head;
of vengeance, garments, he put on as clothes,
and, fury, wrapped around him like a cloak.
So he’ll repay according to their deeds:
his adversaries, his wrath, they will feel,
and his requital on his enemies.
So from the west, the LORD’s name will be feared
and from the east his glory is revered.
His glory comes, a pent-up river, like
which the LORD’s breath, in power, onward, drives.
This is my covenant, the LORD avows
with them: My spirit with which I endowed
you, and my words that I put in your mouth
shall never leave your mouth and will be found,
the mouths, in, of those who from you descend,
and, your grandchildren’s mouths, even in them,
from now on and as well, forevermore,
thus what was said, these words were by the LORD.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 58

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 57

The righteous perish and nobody cares;
how the devout, away, are taken there,
and no one will give it a second thought.
Far from calamity are the upright,
away, swept, and it’s peace that they will find;
but those who walk uprightly, they will rest
when they are fin’lly laid on their deathbeds.
But you are children of a sorceress,
come here, you wanton race, adulterous,
you offspring of a prostitute, no less!
Who is it that you target with your jests?
Against whom do you open your mouths wide
and stick your tongues out? You spawn of a lie,
the offspring of deceit–the oaks beneath,
those sacred ones, how there, you are in heat,
with lust you’re underneath each spreading tree;
you, children, sacrifice in the ravines,
the rocky cliffs, the place that’s, them, beneath.
The smooth stones of the valley, they will be
your portion, yes, your lot is all of these.
To these, libations, you have poured them out
and, offerings of cereal, you brought.
In spite of this, am I still to relent?
On a high mountaintop, you’ve made your bed,
there too, you’ve climbed to offer sacrifice.
Behind the doorpost to your living space,
your secret symbol, sign, there you have placed
Deserting me, you’ve stripped and, down, you’ve lain,
on the wide bed, the one that you have made
with men, your bargains, for which they have paid,
to have the pleasure of a shared embrace
and making love, while on your sign, you gaze.
With oil, your tresses, how them you suffused,
you’re lavish in your use of sweet perfumes.
You sent out your procurers far and wide,
down even into Sheol, it’s confines.
From all your wanderings, you, weary, grew
but never thought, was desperate, your plight.
You found that your desire had been renewed
and so it never weakened, that, your drive.

Of whom were you afraid so that you lied,
that you became false, and you, me, forgot
or never gave to me a second thought?
Did I not, silent, keep, and look away
so that, of me, you would not be afraid?
Now I’ll expose this righteousness of yours,
what little good for you has it ensured.
Your idols will not help you when you cry.
A puff of wind, their place, to them, denies;
it’s just a breath that will blow them away.
But he who will, his refuge, in me, place
shall see the land be his inheritance
and he, my holy mountain, shall possess.

Build up, build up, then how the LORD will say, 
remove each obstacle, prepare their way,
my people’s path.  Thus, the Exalted One,
and he who’s High, all of these words intones,
he who inhabits it, eternity,
whose name is Holy: Where I dwell will be
on high, in holiness, and too, with those 
who’re humble, and, have been crushed, spirits, whose
so that, the humble’s spirits, I’ll revive,
and too, revive the hearts of the contrite.
For I will not accuse continually
and neither will I, always, angry, be,
or else the creatures’ spirits whom I made,
how underneath my onslaught, they would fail.
Their wicked avarice, of that, because,
I, angry, was; it’s down, where I struck them.
I hid myself in wrath while where they went,
in their own way that was rebellious.
Still, I will heal them though I’ve seen their ways.
I will lead them and, them, I will repay
with comfort, and upon their lips, I’ll place,
those ones who mourn, they will speak words of praise.
For all of them, both far and near, Peace, peace, 
the LORD says, and it’s them whom I will heal.
The wicked are, but, like a storm-tossed sea,
like one that can’t, its stillness, ever keep;
its waters, mud and mire, toss from the deep.
My God says, for the wicked, there’s no peace.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 56

Thus says the LORD, Observe all that is right,
and do what’s just, for soon it will arrive,
salvation, my, and it will be revealed,
my justice.  Happy, how each man will be,
who will adhere to all of, precepts, these,
who keeps the sabbath, and won’t, it, profane,
who from wrongdoing, his hand, will abstain.

The foreigner joined to the LORD, don’t let
him say, “Me from, the LORD will separate,
the people.” Don’t, the eunuch, let, believe,
and say, “How I am just a dried up tree.”
For says the LORD, thus: “To all eunuchs who,
my sabbaths, keep, and all of those who choose
the things that please me, and who won’t turn loose,
my covenant, of, in my house, I’ll grant,
and too within my walls, a monument,
and, I, a name, to them will designate,
that’s better than, I, sons and daughters, gave.
A name, I’ll give them, that will last fore’er.
The name I give them will, effaced, be, ne’er.

And those who join themselves, the foreigners,
unto the LORD, to him, to minister,
to love my name and also, me, to serve,
and those who will, the sabbath, e’er observe,
these, to my holy mountain, I will bear,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their offerings, burnt, sacrifices, their,
upon my altar, are accepted there;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for peoples, all. Thus, the Lord GOD declares,
who, the outcasts of Is’rael, gathers there,
to them, how I shall, others, gather, ‘round,
besides those who’re already, gathered, found.

All animals who’re wild, and all you beasts,
you of the forest and those in the field,
come to devour!  All Israel’s cannot see,
they’re blind, their sentinels, they, knowledge, lack;
they all are silent dogs that cannot bark;
they’re dreaming, lying down, they love to sleep.
The dogs, they never have enough to eat,
their mighty appetites.  The shepherds spurn
all understanding and they all have turned
to their own way and to their selfish gain,
it’s all of them.  “Come,” this is what they say,
“Let us get wine, and let, ourselves, us, fill
with drink that’s strong.  And how tomorrow will
be like today or maybe better still!”

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 55

Whoe’er is thirsty, you, I now invite
to come, the water, to, and come and buy,
you who are lacking money, food to eat.
Come now, and you can buy both milk and wine,
but without money, buy them without price.
Why pay your money for what isn’t bread,
and for what does not satisfy, expend
your labor?  Listen to me carefully,
and eat that which is good and too, delight
yourselves in rich food.   Now, your ear, incline,
come listen to me so that, live, you may.
With you, a covenant that lasts, I’ll make, 
forever, to fulfill my promises
to David, I assured, for benefits.
To peoples, as a witness, I made him,
a ruler for the people and a prince.
See, nations you don’t know, them you will call,
and nations you don’t know, run to you, shall,
because the LORD, of Israel, your God,
the Holy One, for he’s, you, glorified. 

The LORD, seek him, then, while he may be found,
upon him, call, the time while he’s close ‘round.
Their way, now, let the wicked, that, forsake,
and the unrighteous, too, their thoughts, betray.
For my thoughts aren’t your thoughts, nor are your ways
my ways, this is what he, the LORD, now says.
For as the heavens, high above, are they,
the earth, so are my ways above your ways,
and too my thoughts, your thoughts, are higher than.

For as the rain and too the snow come down
from heaven and do not return again
until the earth, they’ve watered, and the land,
makes it bring forth and sprout, thus giving seed,
that to the sower, and that brings forth bread
that for the eater, so too shall my word
that goes forth from my mouth, it never shall
to me, return, both empty, unfulfilled,
but, all my purposes, it will achieve,
and that for which I sent it, it succeeds.

For you’ll go out, and you’ll with joy, proceed,
and you will be brought back in peace as well;
the mountains and the hills before you shall
burst into song, and also all the trees,
how they will clap their hands, those of the field.
Instead of thorns shall grow the cypresses,
no briars, but the myrtle flourishes,
and it shall all be a memorial,
one to the LORD, a sign, perpetual,
imperishable, also, durable.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 54

O barren one, who has not borne, sing now;
burst into song, today, and you should shout,
sing praises, you, who’ve been in labor, not.
If the deserted wife’s, all them, you count,
the number of her children, their amount,
they’re more than all the children that she has,
the woman who is married, the LORD says.
You should enlarge the situs of your tent
and out, your habitation’s curtains, stretch;
do not hold back, but give the cords some length,
and, to your tent-pegs, give some greater strength.
For you’ll spread from your confines, right and left,
those who from you, descend, they’ll dispossess
the nations, and the towns, those desolate,
your offspring, they are who will settle them.

Do not fear for you will not be ashamed,
don’t be discouraged for there’s no disgrace
you’ll suffer; from your memory, no trace,
the shame you suffered in your younger days,
and, of your widowhood, its sad reproach,
that won’t, your recollection, e’er approach.
For your Creator is your husband sure,
the LORD of hosts, by that name, he’s referred,
the Holy One of Is’rael, he is your
Redeemer, he’s called God of all the earth.
For he, the LORD has, like a wife, one who's
forsaken and in spirit, grieved, called you,
like when she’s cast off, her, of a man’s youth,
a wife whose marriage now has been renewed,
thus says your God.  How I did, you, forsake
for a brief moment, but I take you back
with great compassion. Overflowing wrath,
in that, just for a moment, how I hid
my face from you, but now, how it is with
love, everlasting, to you, I’ll inure
compassion, says the LORD, Redeemer, your.

The days of Noah, this is like, to me:
Just as I swore how Noah’s flood would be,
the waters ne’er again would cover o’er
the earth, so that I will not, I have sworn,
be angry with you, and, you, won’t rebuke.
Though, move, the mountains, may, and the hills shake,
my steadfast love, how it will never fail,
and too, my covenant of peace, won’t be removed,
the LORD says, who, compassion, has, on you.

Storm-battered city, you who are distressed
and desolate, now I, your stones shall set
in mortar of the quality that’s best,
and your foundations, sapphires, with, I’ll lay.
Your battlements, of jasper, red, I’ll make,
and garnets, they will constitute your gates,
and for your walls, how precious jewels are brought.
Your children, all, shall, by the LORD, be taught,
and they’ll enjoy prosperity that’s great.
In righteousness, you shall, established, be,
far from oppression, there, you will be free,
and nothing, what it is you’ll have to fear
for that emotion won't come, to you, near.
If anyone against you stirs up strife,
it's not from me; and for whate'er they try,
how the aggressors, they shall fall and die.
See, who, the smith, created: it was I,
to fan the coals, and also blow the fire,
to weapons, forge for their intended use.
The ravager, created him, I, too,
to deal out havoc.  But, it’s not been made,
the weapon that will, you, against, prevail,
and who in court will rise, and you, accuse,
how their false words against you, you’ll refute.
This is the blessed heritage of them,
the servants of the LORD.  From whence it comes?
Their vindication, says the LORD, me, from.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 53

Who has believed the things that we have heard
and to whom has the LORD’s arm been revealed?
For he grew up, it was before the LORD,
like a young plant, a root, in arid ground,
possessing neither form nor majesty
that we should look at him, there was no thing 
in his appearance that, our hearts, might win.
He was despised and he was shunned by all;
a man of sorrows, sufferings, their thrall,
he knew, and as one, from whom, they would hide
their faces.  How he was, as one despised,
and we held him of no account, as poor.

Yet it was our afflictions that he bore
and it was too, our pain that he endured.
While we thought of him as a smitten one
whom God afflicted, with disease, struck down,
whereas for our offenses, he was pierced,
for our iniquities, why he was crushed;
upon him, there, the punishment was placed 
that made us whole, and by them we are healed,
his bruises.  We had all strayed just like sheep,
each of us, how we followed our own way,
and on him, this is what the LORD has laid,
of us all, the iniquity, its weight.

He was afflicted and he was oppressed
but did not, up, open, to protest,
his mouth, just like a sheep, to slaughter, led,
and like a ewe is silent, them, before,
the shearers, he, his mouth, up, opened, ne’er.
He was oppressed, too, sentenced and condemned,
and he, away, was taken. Yet who gave
a thought about his destiny, his fate?
For from the living’s land, off, he was cut,
for their transgressions, how he, dead, was struck,
his people’s.  There, with them, they made his grave,
the wicked; with the rich, his tomb was placed,
although he never, violence, had done,
and in his mouth, there, no deceit was found.

Yet, it was the will of the LORD, with pain,
to crush him.  What he’ll see, as it, for sin,
an offering, when he makes his life one?
His offspring, and how he’ll prolong his days;
through him, the LORD’s will, prosper, he will make.
Out of his anguish, how he shall see light,
how satisfaction, that, what he shall find,
it’s through his knowledge.  How, the one who’s right,
my servant, he, shall many, righteous, make,
and, their iniquities, he’ll bear them all.
Therefore, I will allot him, with the great, 
a portion, and how he’ll divide the spoil,
with them, the strong, because, how he, out, has,
to death, himself, poured, how he, numbered, was
with the transgressors, yet on him was placed
the sin of many, and he, on that day,
for the transgressors, intercession, made.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 52

O Zion, clothe yourself, awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion! Now array
yourself in garments, beautiful, today,
O Holy City, you, Jerusalem;
for the uncircumcised and the unclean
shall never come into your place again.
Shake off the dust and to the throne, ascend,
Jerusalem; the ropes around your neck,
O captive daughter, Zion, loosen them.

For thus the LORD says, It's like you were free
when you were sold, and how you’ll be redeemed?
It’s without payment–money, there’s no need.
My people long ago, the Lord GOD says,
went down to Egypt and, as aliens,
to, there, reside; too, the Assyrians,
for nought, oppressed them.  But now what do I
find here? the LORD says. Paid, there was no price,
when they, my people carried off? They wailed,
their rulers, and all day, my name, reviled 
increasingly, what the LORD says.
Therefore, my people, they shall know my name;
it's therefore, this, what they'll know in that day
that it is I who speak; and here I am.

How, on the mountains, beautiful, the feet
are, of the messenger announcing peace,
who brings good news and who announces this,
salvation, and, to Zion, these words, says,
“Your God is king.” Hark! How they raise a cry,
your watchmen, they, together, shout for joy.
For into Zion, in their sight that’s plain,
they see the LORD’s return.  Together, break
forth into singing, of Jerusalem,
you ruins; for the LORD comforted them,
his people. Bared, the LORD, his holy arm,
before all of their eyes; and the earths’ ends 
shall see our God’s salvation, even then.

Depart, depart, go out from Babylon,
leave it behind. Touch no thing that’s unclean.
Go from its midst and then, yourselves, keep pure,
the vessels of the LORD, you who, them, bear. 

For you shall not come out in urgent haste,
or will you leave like fugitives who’re chased;
for how the LORD is marching at your head
and Israel’s God will serve as your rear guard.

See how my servant will achieve success,
he will grow great and, to great heights, ascend.
As many people, at him, were aghast–
he was disfigured so inhumanly
that he was not, as mortal man, perceived–
so many nations will, astonished, be,
and kings shall curl their lips up in disgust;
for they shall see that which they’d not been told,
and they will contemplate what they’d not heard.