202 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
202 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
A Call to Trust the LORD
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# Chapter 51
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1. "Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance--
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all who seek the LORD!
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Consider the rock from which you were cut,
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the quarry from which you were mined.
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2. Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor,
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and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation.
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Abraham was only one man when I called him.
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But when I blessed him, he became a great nation."
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3. The LORD will comfort Israel again
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and have pity on her ruins.
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Her desert will blossom like Eden,
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her barren wilderness like the garden of the LORD.
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Joy and gladness will be found there.
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Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.
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4. "Listen to me, my people.
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Hear me, Israel,
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for my law will be proclaimed,
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and my justice will become a light to the nations.
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5. My mercy and justice are coming soon.
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My salvation is on the way.
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My strong arm will bring justice to the nations.
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All distant lands will look to me
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and wait in hope for my powerful arm.
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6. Look up to the skies above,
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and gaze down on the earth below.
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For the skies will disappear like smoke,
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and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing.
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The people of the earth will die like flies,
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but my salvation lasts forever.
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My righteous rule will never end!
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7. "Listen to me, you who know right from wrong,
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you who cherish my law in your hearts.
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Do not be afraid of people's scorn,
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nor fear their insults.
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8. For the moth will devour them as it devours clothing.
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The worm will eat at them as it eats wool.
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But my righteousness will last forever.
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My salvation will continue from generation to generation."
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9. Wake up, wake up, O LORD! Clothe yourself with strength!
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Flex your mighty right arm!
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Rouse yourself as in the days of old
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when you slew Egypt, the dragon of the Nile.
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10. Are you not the same today,
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the one who dried up the sea,
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making a path of escape through the depths
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so that your people could cross over?
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11. Those who have been ransomed by the LORD will return.
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They will enter Jerusalem singing,
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crowned with everlasting joy.
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Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
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and they will be filled with joy and gladness.
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12. "I, yes I, am the one who comforts you.
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So why are you afraid of mere humans,
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who wither like the grass and disappear?
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13. Yet you have forgotten the LORD, your Creator,
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the one who stretched out the sky like a canopy
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and laid the foundations of the earth.
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Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors?
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Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies?
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Where is their fury and anger now?
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It is gone!
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14. Soon all you captives will be released!
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Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate!
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15. For I am the LORD your God,
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who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar.
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My name is the LORD of Heaven's Armies.
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16. And I have put my words in your mouth
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and hidden you safely in my hand.
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I stretched out the sky like a canopy
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and laid the foundations of the earth.
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I am the one who says to Israel,
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'You are my people!'"
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17. Wake up, wake up, O Jerusalem!
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You have drunk the cup of the LORD's fury.
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You have drunk the cup of terror,
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tipping out its last drops.
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18. Not one of your children is left alive
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to take your hand and guide you.
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19. These two calamities have fallen on you:
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desolation and destruction, famine and war.
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And who is left to sympathize with you?
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Who is left to comfort you?
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20. For your children have fainted and lie in the streets,
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helpless as antelopes caught in a net.
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The LORD has poured out his fury;
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God has rebuked them.
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21. But now listen to this, you afflicted ones
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who sit in a drunken stupor,
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though not from drinking wine.
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22. This is what the Sovereign LORD,
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your God and Defender, says:
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"See, I have taken the terrible cup from your hands.
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You will drink no more of my fury.
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23. Instead, I will hand that cup to your tormentors,
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those who said, 'We will trample you into the dust
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and walk on your backs.'"
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