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Israel Exhorted

¹ "^(C1)Listen to me, you who ^(C2)pursue righteousness,
Who seek the LORD:
Look to the ^(C3)rock from which you were hewn
And to the ^(F1)quarry from which you were dug.

² "Look to ^(C1)Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he ^(C2)was but one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him."

³ Indeed, ^(C1)the LORD will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her ^(C2)waste places.
And her ^(C3)wilderness He will make like ^(C4)Eden,
And her desert like the ^(C5)garden of the LORD;
^(C6)Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

⁴ "^(C1)Pay attention to Me, O My people,
And give ear to Me, O My ^(F1)nation;
For a ^(C2)law will go forth from Me,
And I will ^(F2)set My ^(C3)justice for a ^(C4)light of the peoples.

⁵ "My ^(C1)righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My ^(C2)arms will judge the peoples;
The ^(C3)coastlands will wait for Me,
And for My ^(C4)arm they will wait expectantly.

⁶ "^(C1)Lift up your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the ^(C2)sky will vanish like smoke,
And the ^(C2)earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die ^(F1)in like manner;
But My ^(C3)salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not ^(F2)wane.

⁷ "^(C1)Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose ^(C2)heart is My law;
Do not fear the ^(C3)reproach of man,
Nor be dismayed at their revilings.

⁸ "For the ^(C1)moth will eat them like a garment,
And the ^(C2)grub will eat them like wool.
But My ^(C3)righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations."

^9 (C1)Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD;
Awake as in the ^(C2)days of old, the generations of long ago.
^(C3)Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the ^(C4)dragon?

¹⁰ Was it not You who ^(C1)dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the ^(C2)redeemed to cross over?

¹¹ So the ^(C1)ransomed of the LORD will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
And ^(C2)everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And ^(C3)sorrow and sighing will flee away.

¹² "I, even I, am He who ^(C1)comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of ^(C2)man who dies
And of the son of man who is made ^(C3)like grass,

¹³ That you have ^(C1)forgotten the LORD your Maker,
Who ^(C2)stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you ^(C3)fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
But where is the fury of the ^(C4)oppressor?

^17 (C1)Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,
You who have ^(C2)drunk from the LORD'S hand the cup of His anger;
The ^(F1)chalice of reeling you have ^(F2)drained to the dregs.

¹⁸ There is ^(C1)none to guide her among all the sons she has borne,
Nor is there one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.

¹⁹ These two things have befallen you;
Who will mourn for you?
The ^(C1)devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
How shall I comfort you?

²⁰ Your sons have fainted,
They ^(C1)lie helpless at the head of every street,
Like an ^(C2)antelope in a net,
Full of the wrath of the LORD,
The ^(C3)rebuke of your God.

²¹ Therefore, please hear this, you ^(C1)afflicted,
Who are ^(C2)drunk, but not with wine:

²² Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God
Who ^(C1)contends for His people,
"Behold, I have taken out of your hand the ^(C2)cup of reeling,
The ^(F1)chalice of My anger;
You will never drink it again.

²³ "I will ^(C1)put it into the hand of your tormentors,
Who have said to ^(F1)you, '^(C2)Lie down that we may walk over you.'
You have even made your back like the ground
And like the street for those who walk over it."