Study Desk

He will not be faint or crushedUntil He has established justice in the earth;And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law."

Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,The villages where Kedar inhabits.Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud,Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.

"I have kept silent for a long time;I have kept still and restrained Myself.Now like a woman in labor I will groan;I will both gasp and pant.

Yahweh was pleased for His righteousness' sakeThat He make the law great and majestic.

Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers?Was it not Yahweh, against whom we have sinned,And in whose ways they were not willing to walk,And whose law they did not obey?

But now, thus says Yahweh, your Creator, O Jacob,And He who formed you, O Israel,"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;I have called you by name; you are Mine!

For I am Yahweh your God,The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;I have given Egypt as your ransom,Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

Since you are precious in My sight,Since you are honored and I love you,I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

Do not fear, for I am with you;I will bring your seed from the east,And gather you from the west.

Everyone who is called by My name,And whom I have created for My glory,Whom I have formed, even whom I have made."

Thus says Yahweh your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,"For your sake I have sent to Babylon,And will bring down those who fled—all of them,Even the Chaldeans—into the ships in which they shouted for joy.

The people whom I formed for MyselfWill recount My praise.

"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake,And I will not remember your sins.

For I will pour out water on the thirsty groundAnd streams on the dry land;I will pour out My Spirit on your seedAnd My blessing on your offspring;

In order to cut cedars for himself, he takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.

Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also kindles a fire to bake bread. He also works to produce a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it.

But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god."

They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they will have no insight.

"Remember these things, O Jacob,And Israel, for you are My servant;I have formed you, you are My servant;O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.

I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloudAnd your sins like a cloud.Return to Me, for I have redeemed you."