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Israel Encouraged

¹ "^(C1)Listen to Me ^(C2)in silence, you coastlands,
And let the peoples ^(C3)gain new strength;
^(C4)Let them come forward, then let them speak;
^(C5)Let's come together for judgment.

² "^(C1)Who has stirred one from the east
Whom He ^(C2)calls in righteousness to His ^(F1)feet?
He ^(C3)turns nations over to him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like ^(C4)dust with his sword,
Like the wind-driven ^(C5)chaff with his bow.

³ "He pursues them, passing on in safety,
By a way he had not been ^(F1)traversing with his feet.

⁴ "^(C1)Who has performed and accomplished it,
Summoning the generations from the beginning?
'^(C2)I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. ^(C3)I am He.'"

⁵ The ^(C1)coastlands have seen and are afraid;
The ^(C2)ends of the earth tremble;
They have approached and have come.

⁶ Each one helps his neighbor
And says to his brother, "Be strong!"

⁷ So the ^(C1)craftsman encourages the ^(C2)smelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, "It is good";
And he fastens it with nails,
^(C3)So that it will not totter.

⁸ "But you, Israel, ^(C1)My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of ^(C2)Abraham My ^(C3)friend,

⁹ You whom I have ^(F1)(C1)taken from the ends of the earth
And called from its ^(C2)remotest parts,
And said to you, 'You are ^(C3)My servant,
I have ^(C4)chosen you and have not rejected you.

¹⁰ 'Do not ^(C1)fear, for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, ^(C2)I will also help you,
I will also uphold you with My righteous ^(C3)right hand.'

¹¹ "Behold, ^(C1)all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
^(C2)Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

¹² "^(C1)You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

¹³ "For I am the LORD your God ^(C1)who takes hold of your right hand,
Who says to you, '^(C2)Do not fear, I will help you.'

¹⁴ "Do not fear, you ^(C1)worm Jacob, you people of Israel;
I will help you," declares the LORD, "and ^(C2)your ^(F1)Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵ "Behold, I turned you into a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
^(C1)You will thresh the ^(C2)mountains and pulverize them,
And make the hills like chaff.

¹⁶ "You will ^(C1)winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will ^(C2)rejoice in the LORD,
You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷ "The poor and needy are seeking ^(C1)water, but there is none,
And their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, ^(C2)will answer them Myself;
As the God of Israel I ^(C3)will not abandon them.

¹⁸ "I will open ^(C1)rivers on the bare heights,
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make ^(C2)the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land fountains of water.

¹⁹ "I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia, the ^(C1)myrtle, and the olive tree;
I will place the ^(C1)juniper in the desert,
Together with the elm tree and the cypress,

²⁰ So that ^(C1)they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the ^(C2)hand of the LORD has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹ "^(F1)Present your case," the LORD says.
"Bring forward your evidence,"
The ^(C1)King of Jacob says.

^22 (C1)Let them bring them forward and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the ^(C2)former events, declare what they were,
So that we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;

^23 (C1)Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
So that we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, ^(C2)do good or evil, that we may be afraid and fear together.

²⁴ Behold, ^(C1)you are less than nothing,
And ^(C2)your work is less than nothing!
He who chooses you is an ^(C3)abomination.

²⁵ "I have put ^(C1)one from the north into motion, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon ^(F1)(C2)mortar,
As the potter treads on clay."

²⁶ Who has ^(C1)declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, "He is right!"?
There was ^(C2)no one at all who declared,
There was no one at all who proclaimed,
There was no one at all who heard your words.

²⁷ "^(C1)Previously I said to Zion, 'Behold, here they are.'
And to Jerusalem, 'I will give a ^(C2)messenger of good news.'

²⁸ "But ^(C1)when I look, there is no one,
And there is no ^(C2)counselor ^(F1)among them
Who, if I ask, can ^(C3)give an answer.

²⁹ "Behold, all of them are ^(F1)false;
Their ^(C1)works are ^(C2)nothing,
Their cast metal images are ^(C3)wind and emptiness.