I gathered you from one end of the earth to the other. From the farthest places on earth I brought you together. I said,‘ You are my servants.’ I have chosen you. I have not turned my back on you.

你是我从地极所领来的，从地角所召来的，且对你说：“你是我的仆人；我拣选你，并不弃绝你。

你是我从地极领来，从地角召来的，我对你说：“你是我的仆人；我拣选你，并不弃绝你。”

你是我从地极领来，从地角召来的，我对你说：“你是我的仆人；我拣选你，并不弃绝你。”

我把你从地极带来，从遥远的角落召来。我对你说，‘你是我的仆人，我拣选了你，没有丢弃你。

你是我从地极抓来的，我从地的远方召你来，对你说：“你是我的仆人，我拣选了你，并没有弃绝你。”

你是我从地极领来，从地角召来的；我对你说：“你是我的仆人；我拣选了你，没有弃绝你。”

你是我從地極所領來的，從地角所召來的，且對你說：你是我的僕人；我揀選你，並不棄絕你。

你是我從地極領來，從地角召來的，我對你說：「你是我的僕人；我揀選你，並不棄絕你。」

你是我從地極領來，從地角召來的，我對你說：「你是我的僕人；我揀選你，並不棄絕你。」

我把你從地極帶來，從遙遠的角落召來。我對你說，『你是我的僕人，我揀選了你，沒有丟棄你。

你是我從地極抓來的，我從地的遠方召你來，對你說：“你是我的僕人，我揀選了你，並沒有棄絕你。”

我從地儘邊所抓來的，從地極角所召來的，我對你說：『你是我的僕人；我揀選了你，並不棄絕你。』

你是我從地極領來，從地角召來的；我對你說：「你是我的僕人；我揀選了你，沒有棄絕你。」

我自地極援爾、自天涯召爾、謂曰、爾乃我僕、我已簡爾、未嘗遺棄、

自地極天涯、召之以至、曰、我簡爾為僕、不汝遐棄。

我自地極援引爾、自地之遠方召爾至、謂爾曰、爾乃我之僕、我選爾、不棄爾、

I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said,‘ You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you,“ You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”;

I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying,‘ You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away.

I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said to you: You are my servant; I have chosen you; I haven’t rejected you.

You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth And called from its remotest parts, And said to you,‘ You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you,‘ You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away:

thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away;

I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said to you: You are My servant; I have chosen you and not rejected you.

[ Thou] whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou[ art] my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

you whom I am bringing back from the earth’s extremities, and have summoned from the remote regions– I told you,“ You are my servant.” I have chosen you and not rejected you.

You whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from its corners, and said to you,‘ You are my servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away.’

But the Lord will be true to his great name. He won’t turn his back on his people. That’s because he was pleased to make you his own people.

Joshua spoke to all the people. He said,“ The Lord is the God of Israel. He says,‘ Long ago your people lived east of the Euphrates River. They worshiped other gods there. Your people included Terah. He was the father of Abraham and Nahor.I took your father Abraham from the land east of the Euphrates. I led him all through Canaan. I gave him many children and grandchildren. I gave him Isaac.To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave the hill country of Seir to Esau. But Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.

You are a holy nation. The Lord your God has set you apart for himself. He has chosen you to be his special treasure. He chose you out of all the nations on the face of the earth to be his people.The Lord chose you because he loved you very much. He didn’t choose you because you had more people than other nations. In fact, you had the smallest number of all.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when God chose you. Not many of you were considered wise by human standards. Not many of you were powerful. Not many of you belonged to important families.But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.God chose the things of this world that are common and looked down on. God chose things considered unimportant to do away with things considered important.So no one can boast to God.

The Lord won’t say no to his people. He will never desert those who belong to him.

Here is the new song they sang.“ You are worthy to take the scroll and break open its seals. You are worthy because you were put to death. With your blood you bought people for God. They come from every tribe, people and nation, no matter what language they speak.

“ You are the Lord God. You chose Abram. You brought him out of Ur in the land of Babylon. You named him Abraham.You knew that his heart was faithful to you. And you made a covenant with him. You promised to give to his children after him a land of their own. It was the land of the Canaanites, Hittites and Amorites. The Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites also lived there. You have kept your promise. That’s because you always do what is right and fair.“ You saw how our people of long ago suffered in Egypt. You heard them cry out to you at the Red Sea.You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh. You sent plagues on all his officials. In fact, you sent them on all the people of Egypt. You knew how they treated our people. They looked down on them. But you made a name for yourself. That name remains to this very day.You parted the waters of the Red Sea for the Israelites. They passed through it on dry ground. But you threw into the sea those who chased them. They sank down like a stone into the mighty waters.By day you led the Israelites with a pillar of cloud. At night you led them with a pillar of fire. It gave them light to show them the way you wanted them to go.“ You came down on Mount Sinai. From heaven you spoke to our people. You gave them rules and laws. Those laws are right and fair. You gave them orders and commands that are good.You taught them about your holy Sabbath day. You gave them commands, orders and laws. You did it through your servant Moses.When the people were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven. When they were thirsty, you brought them water out of a rock. You told them to go into the land of Canaan. You told them to take it as their own. It was the land you had promised to give them.“ But our people before us became proud and stubborn. They didn’t obey your commands.They refused to listen to you. They forgot the miracles you had done among them. So they became stubborn. When they refused to obey you, they appointed a leader for themselves. They wanted to go back to being slaves in Egypt. But you are a God who forgives. You are gracious. You are tender and kind. You are slow to get angry. You are full of love. So you didn’t desert them.They made for themselves a metal statue of a god that looked like a calf. They said to one another,‘ Here is your god. He brought you up out of Egypt.’ And they did evil things that dishonored you. But you still didn’t desert them.“ Because you loved them so much, you didn’t leave them in the desert. During the day the pillar of cloud didn’t stop guiding them on their path. At night the pillar of fire didn’t stop shining on the way you wanted them to go.You gave them your good Spirit to teach them. You didn’t hold back your manna from their mouths. And you gave them water when they were thirsty.For 40 years you took good care of them in the desert. They had everything they needed. Their clothes didn’t wear out. And their feet didn’t swell up.“ You gave them kingdoms and nations. You even gave them lands far away. They took over the country of Sihon. He was the king of Heshbon. They also took over the country of Og. He was the king of Bashan.You gave them as many children as there are stars in the sky. You told their parents to enter the land. You told them to take it over. And you brought their children into it.Their children went into the land. They took it as their own. You brought the Canaanites under Israel’s control. The Canaanites lived in the land. But you handed them over to Israel. You also handed over their kings and the other nations in the land to Israel. You allowed Israel to deal with them just as they wanted to.Your people captured cities that had high walls around them. They also took over the rich land in Canaan. They took houses filled with all kinds of good things. They took over wells that had already been dug. They took many vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees. They ate until they were very full and satisfied. They were filled with joy because you were so good to them.“ But they didn’t obey you. Instead, they turned against you. They turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets. The prophets had warned them to return to you. But they did very evil things that dishonored you.So you handed them over to their enemies, who treated them badly. Then they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them. You loved them very much. So you sent leaders to help them. The leaders saved them from the power of their enemies.“ Then the people were enjoying peace and rest again. That’s when they did what you did not want them to do. Then you handed them over to their enemies. So their enemies ruled over them. When they cried out to you again, you heard them from heaven. You loved them very much. So you saved them time after time.“ You warned them so that they would obey your law again. But they became proud. They didn’t obey your commands. They sinned against your rules. You said,‘ Anyone who obeys my rules will live by them.’ But the people didn’t care about that. They turned their backs on you. They became very stubborn. They refused to listen to you.For many years you put up with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. In spite of that, they didn’t pay any attention. So you handed them over to the nations that were around them.But you loved them very much. So you didn’t put an end to them. You didn’t desert them. That’s because you are a gracious God. You are tender and kind.“ Our God, you are the great God. You are mighty and wonderful. You keep the covenant you made with us. You show us your love. So don’t let all our suffering seem like a small thing to you. We’ve suffered greatly. So have our kings and leaders. So have our priests and prophets. Our people who lived long ago also suffered. And all your people are suffering right now. In fact, we’ve been suffering from the time of the kings of Assyria until today.In spite of everything that has happened to us, you have been fair. You have been faithful in what you have done. But we did what was evil.Our kings and leaders didn’t follow your law. Our priests and our people before us didn’t follow it either. They didn’t pay any attention to your commands or rules that you warned them to keep.They didn’t serve you. They didn’t turn from their evil ways. They didn’t obey you even when they had a kingdom. You were very good to them. And they enjoyed it. You gave them a rich land. It had plenty of room in it. But they still didn’t serve you.“ Now look at us. We are slaves today. We’re slaves in the land you gave our people of long ago. You gave it to them so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces.But we have sinned against you. So its great harvest goes to the kings of Persia. You have placed them over us. They rule over our bodies and cattle just as they please. And we are suffering terribly.“ So we are making a firm agreement. We’re writing it down. Our leaders are putting their official marks on it. And so are our Levites and priests.”

“ Who has stirred up a king from the east? Who has helped him win his battles? I hand nations over to him. I bring kings under his control. He turns them into dust with his sword. With his bow he turns them into straw blowing in the wind.

Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will bring your people back from the east. I will gather you from the west.I will say to the north,‘ Let them go!’ And I will say to the south,‘ Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from far away. Bring my daughters from the farthest places on earth.

Let those who have been set free by the Lord tell their story. He set them free from the power of the enemy.He brought them back from other lands. He brought them back from east and west, from north and south.

People will come from east and west and north and south. They will take their places at the feast in God’s kingdom.

The Lord says,“ People of Israel, you are my servants. Family of Jacob, I have chosen you. You are the children of my friend Abraham.

So here is what I ask. Did God turn his back on his people? Not at all! I myself belong to Israel. I am one of Abraham’s children. I am from the tribe of Benjamin.God didn’t turn his back on his people. After all, he chose them. Don’t you know what Scripture says about Elijah? He complained to God about Israel.

My dear brothers and sisters, listen to me. Hasn’t God chosen those who are poor in the world’s eyes to be rich in faith? Hasn’t he chosen them to receive the kingdom? Hasn’t he promised it to those who love him?

I say,‘ What if I had not made my covenant with day and night? What if I had not established the laws of heaven and earth?Only then would I turn my back on the children of Jacob and my servant David. Only then would I not choose one of David’s sons to rule over the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will bless my people with great success again. I will love them with tender love.’ ”