Aa
Israel Exhorted
1“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut,
And to the Lit excavation of a pitquarry from which you were dug.
2Look to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he was only one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
3Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her ruins.
And He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and the sound of a melody.
4“Pay attention to Me, My people,
And listen to Me, My Or peoplenation;
For a law will go out from Me,
And I will bring My justice as a light of the peoples.
5My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait for Me,
And they will wait expectantly for My arm.
6Raise your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the sky will vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die Another reading is like gnatsin the same way.
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not fail.
7Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose heart is My Law;
Do not fear the taunting of Or mankindpeople,
Nor be terrified of their abuses.
8For the moth will eat them like a garment;
Yes, the moth will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”
9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.
Was it not You who cut I.e., a sea monster, not to be confused with Rahab in Joshua 2Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the dragon?
10Was it not You who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the redeemed to cross over?
11And the redeemed of the Lord will return
And come to Zion with joyful shouting,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
12“I, I Myself, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of Lit man who diesmortal man,
And of a son of man who is made like grass,
13That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
And where is the rage of the oppressor?
14The Lit one in chainsexile will soon be set free, and will not die in the Lit pitdungeon, nor will his bread be lacking.
15For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar (the Lord of armies is His name).
16And I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to Lit plantestablish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”
17Pull yourself up! Pull yourself up! Arise, Jerusalem!
You who have drunk from the Lords hand the cup of His anger;
The Lit bowl of the cup of reelingchalice of staggering you have drunk to the dregs.
18There is no one to guide her among all the sons to whom she has given birth,
Nor is there anyone to take her by the hand among all the sons she has raised.
19These two things have happened to you;
Who will mourn for you?
The devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
How shall I comfort you?
20Your sons have fainted,
They lie helpless at the head of every street,
Like an antelope in a net,
Full of the wrath of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.
21Therefore, listen to this, you afflicted,
Who are drunk, but not with wine:
22This is what your Lord, the Lord, your God
Who contends for His people says:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering,
The Lit bowl of the cup ofchalice of My anger;
You will never drink it again.
23I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
Who have said to Lit your soulyou, ‘Lie down so that we may walk over you.
You have also made your back like the ground,
And like the street for those who walk over it.