147 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
147 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
The Servant of the LORD
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# Chapter 49
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1. Listen to me, O coastlands,
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and give attention, you peoples from afar.
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The LORD called me from the womb,
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from the body of my mother he named my name.
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2. He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
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in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
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he made me a polished arrow;
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in his quiver he hid me away.
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3. And he said to me, "You are my servant,
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Israel, in whom I will be glorified."
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4. But I said, "I have labored in vain;
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I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
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yet surely my right is with the LORD,
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and my recompense with my God."
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5. And now the LORD says,
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he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
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to bring Jacob back to him;
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and that Israel might be gathered to him--
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for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
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and my God has become my strength--
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6. he says:
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"It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
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to raise up the tribes of Jacob
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and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
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I will make you as a light for the nations,
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that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
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7. Thus says the LORD,
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the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
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to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
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the servant of rulers:
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"Kings shall see and arise;
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princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
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because of the LORD, who is faithful,
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the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
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The Restoration of Israel
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8. Thus says the LORD:
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"In a time of favor I have answered you;
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in a day of salvation I have helped you;
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I will keep you and give you
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as a covenant to the people,
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to establish the land,
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to apportion the desolate heritages,
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9. saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,'
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to those who are in darkness, 'Appear.'
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They shall feed along the ways;
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on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
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10. they shall not hunger or thirst,
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neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
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for he who has pity on them will lead them,
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and by springs of water will guide them.
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11. And I will make all my mountains a road,
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and my highways shall be raised up.
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12. Behold, these shall come from afar,
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and behold, these from the north and from the west,
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and these from the land of Syene."
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13. Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
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break forth, O mountains, into singing!
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For the LORD has comforted his people
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and will have compassion on his afflicted.
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14. But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me;
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my Lord has forgotten me."
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15. "Can a woman forget her nursing child,
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that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
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Even these may forget,
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yet I will not forget you.
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16. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
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your walls are continually before me.
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17. Your builders make haste;
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your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
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18. Lift up your eyes around and see;
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they all gather, they come to you.
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As I live, declares the LORD,
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you shall put them all on as an ornament;
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you shall bind them on as a bride does.
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19. "Surely your waste and your desolate places
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and your devastated land--
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surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
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and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
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20. The children of your bereavement
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will yet say in your ears:
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'The place is too narrow for me;
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make room for me to dwell in.'
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21. Then you will say in your heart:
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'Who has borne me these?
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I was bereaved and barren,
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exiled and put away,
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but who has brought up these?
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Behold, I was left alone;
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from where have these come?'"
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22. Thus says the Lord God:
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"Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
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and raise my signal to the peoples;
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and they shall bring your sons in their arms,
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and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
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23. Kings shall be your foster fathers,
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and their queens your nursing mothers.
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With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
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and lick the dust of your feet.
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Then you will know that I am the LORD;
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those who wait for me shall not be put to shame."
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24. Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
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or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
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25. For thus says the LORD:
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"Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
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and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
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for I will contend with those who contend with you,
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and I will save your children.
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26. I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
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and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
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Then all flesh shall know
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that I am the LORD your Savior,
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and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
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