No resident of Zion will say, “I am ill”; the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.

“You, my servant Israel, Jacob whom I have chosen, offspring of Abraham my friend,

Who among you will pay attention to this? Who will listen attentively in the future?

Remind me of what happened! Let’s debate! You, prove to me that you are right!

So I defiled your holy princes, and handed Jacob over to destruction, and subjected Israel to humiliating abuse.”

Together they bend low and kneel down; they are unable to rescue the images; they themselves head off into captivity.

Can spoils be taken from a warrior, or captives be rescued from a conqueror?

who led them through the deep water? Like a horse running on flat land they did not stumble.

“Why do you try to refute me? All of you have rebelled against me,” says the Lord.

“My, how good you have become at chasing after your lovers! Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two!

I looked and saw that there were no more people, and that all the birds in the sky had flown away.

The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!

Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn in the field because there is no grass.

“I will deliver you from the power of the wicked. I will free you from the clutches of violent people.”

Lord, grant me relief from my suffering so that I may have some relief. Rescue me from those who persecute me so that I may be rescued.

Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For he rescues the oppressed from the clutches of evildoers.

The Lord says, “The leaders of my people are sure to be judged. They were supposed to watch over my people like shepherds watch over their sheep. But they are causing my people to be destroyed and scattered.

Do you people think that I am some local deity and not the transcendent God?” the Lord asks.

The leaders will not be able to run away and hide. The shepherds of the flocks will not be able to escape.

For the Lord will rescue the descendants of Jacob. He will secure their release from those who had overpowered them.