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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 cut,
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 only 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)ruins.
And He will make her ^(C3)wilderness like ^(C4)Eden,
And her desert like the ^(C5)garden of the LORD.
^(C6)Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and the sound of a melody.

⁴ "^(C1)Pay attention to Me, My people,
And listen to Me, My ^(F1)nation;
For a ^(C2)law will go out from Me,
And I will bring My ^(C3)justice as 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 they will wait expectantly for My ^(C4)arm.

⁶ "^(C1)Raise 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 the same way.
But My ^(C3)salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not fail.

⁷ "^(C1)Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose ^(C2)heart is My Law;
Do not fear the ^(C3)taunting of ^(F1)people,
Nor be terrified of their abuses.

⁸ "For the ^(C1)moth will eat them like a garment;
Yes, the ^(C2)moth 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 ^(F1)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 And the ^(C1)redeemed of the LORD will return
And come to Zion with joyful shouting,
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, I Myself, am He who ^(C1)comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of ^(F1)(C2)mortal man,
And of a son of man who is made like ^(C3)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?
And where is the rage of the ^(C4)oppressor?

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

¹⁸ There is ^(C1)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.

¹⁹ These two things have happened to 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, listen to this, you ^(C1)afflicted,
Who are ^(C2)drunk, but not with wine:

²² This is what your Lord, the LORD, your God
Who ^(C1)contends for His people says:
"Behold, I have taken from your hand the ^(C2)cup of staggering,
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 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."