164 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
164 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
The Servant Brings Salvation
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# Chapter 49
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1. Coasts and islands, listen to me;
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distant peoples, pay attention.
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The Lord called me before I was born.
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He named me while I was in my mother's womb.
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2. He made my words like a sharp sword;
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he hid me in the shadow of his hand.
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He made me like a sharpened arrow;
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he hid me in his quiver.
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3. 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 myself said: I have labored in vain,
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I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;
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yet my vindication is with the Lord,
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and my reward is with my God.
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5. And now, says the Lord,
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who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
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to bring Jacob back to him
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so that Israel might be gathered to him;
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for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
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and my God is my strength--
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6. he says,
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"It is not enough for you to be my servant
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raising up the tribes of Jacob
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and restoring the protected ones of Israel.
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I will also make you a light for the nations,
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to be my salvation to the ends of the earth."
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7. This is what the Lord,
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the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says
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to one who is despised,
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to one abhorred by people,
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to a servant of rulers:
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"Kings will see, princes will stand up,
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and they will all bow down
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because of the Lord, who is faithful,
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the Holy One of Israel--and he has chosen you."
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8. This is what the Lord says:
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I will answer you in a time of favor,
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and I will help you in the day of salvation.
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I will keep you, and I will appoint you
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to be a covenant for the people,
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to restore the land,
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to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
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9. saying to the prisoners, "Come out,"
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and to those who are in darkness, "Show yourselves."
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They will feed along the pathways,
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and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.
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10. They will not hunger or thirst,
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the scorching heat or sun will not strike them;
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for their compassionate one will guide them,
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and lead them to springs.
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11. I will make all my mountains into a road,
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and my highways will be raised up.
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12. See, these will come from far away,
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from the north and from the west,
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and from the land of Sinim.
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13. Shout for joy, you heavens!
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Earth, rejoice!
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Mountains break into joyful shouts!
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For the Lord has comforted his people,
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and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
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Zion Remembered
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14. Zion says, "
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The Lord has abandoned me;
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the Lord has forgotten me!"
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15. "Can a woman forget her nursing child,
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or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
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Even if these forget,
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yet I will not forget you.
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16. Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
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your walls are continually before me.
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17. Your builders hurry;
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those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.
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18. Look up, and look around.
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They all gather together; they come to you.
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As I live"--
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this is the Lord's declaration--
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"you will wear all your children as jewelry,
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and put them on as a bride does.
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19. For your waste and desolate places
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and your land marked by ruins
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will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants,
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and those who swallowed you up
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will be far away.
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20. Yet as you listen, the children
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that you have been deprived of will say,
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'This place is too small for me;
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make room for me so that I may settle.'
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21. Then you will say within yourself,
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'Who fathered these for me?
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I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
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exiled and wandering--
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but who brought them up?
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See, I was left by myself--
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but these, where did they come from?'"
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22. This is what the Lord God says:
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Look, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
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and raise my banner to the peoples.
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They will bring your sons in their arms,
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and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
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23. Kings will be your guardians
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and their queens your nursing mothers.
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They will bow down to you
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with their faces to the ground
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and lick the dust at your feet.
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Then you will know that I am the Lord;
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those who put their hope in me
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will not be put to shame.
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24. Can the prey be taken from a mighty man,
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or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?
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25. For this is what the Lord says:
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"Even the captives of a mighty man will be taken,
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and the prey of a tyrant will be delivered;
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I will contend with the one who contends 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 will be drunk with their own blood
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as with sweet wine.
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Then all humanity will know
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that I, the Lord, am your Savior,
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and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
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