<p class="poetry">So in this way Jacob&#8217;s sin will be forgiven,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and this is how they will show they are finished sinning:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They will make all the stones of the altars<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like crushed limestone,p> <p class="poetry">and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">For you say,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;We have made a treaty with death,p> <p class="poetry">with Sheol<n id="1" /> we have made an agreement.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">it will not reach us.p> <p class="poetry">For we have made a lie our refuge,p> <p class="poetry">we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">To you this entire prophetic revelation<n id="1" /> is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read<n id="2" /> and say, &#8220;Read this,&#8221; he responds, &#8220;I can&#8217;t, because it is sealed.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">So this is what the <sc>Lordsc>, the one who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Jacob will no longer be ashamed;p> <p class="poetry">their faces will no longer show their embarrassment.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">This is a message<n id="1" /> about the animals in the Negev:p> <p class="poetry">Through a land of distress and danger,p> <p class="poetry">inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">by snakes and darting adders,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">they transport<n id="4" /> their wealth on the backs of donkeys,p> <p class="poetry">their riches on the humps of camels,p> <p class="poetry">to a nation that cannot help them.<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">those who rely on war horses,p> <p class="poetry">and trust in Egypt&#8217;s many chariots<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and in their many, many horsemen.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and do not seek help from the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">Instead the <sc>Lordsc> will rule there as our mighty king.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Rivers and wide streams will flow through it;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">no war galley will enter;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">no large ships will sail through.<n id="4" />p>

&#8220;Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: &#8216;Don&#8217;t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, &#8220;Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">So this is what the <sc>Lordsc> says about the king of Assyria:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;He will not enter this city,p> <p class="poetry">nor will he shoot an arrow here.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He will not attack it with his shielded warriors,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">nor will he build siege works against it.p>

&#8216;Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors<n id="1" /> have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.

<p class="poetry">Look up at the sky!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Who created all these heavenly lights?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He is the one who leads out their ranks;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">he calls them all by name.p> <p class="poetry">Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,p> <p class="poetry">not one of them is missing.p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says to his chosen<n id="1" /> one,p> <p class="poetry">to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">in order to subdue nations before him,p> <p class="poetry">and disarm kings,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">to open doors before him,p> <p class="poetry">so gates remain unclosed:p>

<p class="poetry">For this is what the <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">the one who created the sky &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">he is the true God,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who formed the earth and made it;p> <p class="poetry">he established it,p> <p class="poetry">he did not create it without order,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he formed it to be inhabited &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am the <sc>Lordsc>, I have no peer.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Fall down! Sit in the dirt,p> <p class="poetry">O virgin<n id="1" /> daughter Babylon!p> <p class="poetry">Sit on the ground, not on a throne,p> <p class="poetry">O daughter of the Babylonians!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="2" /> you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Listen to this, O family of Jacob,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you who are called by the name &#8216;Israel,&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">and are descended from Judah,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">who take oaths in the name of the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">and invoke<n id="3" /> the God of Israel &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">but not in an honest and just manner.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">So now the <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">the one who formed me from birth<n id="1" /> to be his servant &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">he did this<n id="2" /> to restore Jacob to himself,p> <p class="poetry">so that Israel might be gathered to him;p> <p class="poetry">and I will be honored<n id="3" /> in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s sight,p> <p class="poetry">for my God is my source of strength<n id="4" /> &#8211;p>

<p class="poetry">Kings will be your children&#8217;s<n id="1" /> guardians;p> <p class="poetry">their princesses will nurse your children.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">With their faces to the ground they will bow down to youp> <p class="poetry">and they will lick the dirt on<n id="3" /> your feet.p> <p class="poetry">Then you will recognize that I am the <sc>Lordsc>;p> <p class="poetry">those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.p>

<p class="poetry">Look up at the sky!p> <p class="poetry">Look at the earth below!p> <p class="poetry">For the sky will dissipate<n id="1" /> like smoke,p> <p class="poetry">and the earth will wear out like clothes;p> <p class="poetry">its residents will die like gnats.p> <p class="poetry">But the deliverance I give<n id="2" /> is permanent;p> <p class="poetry">the vindication I provide<n id="3" /> will not disappear.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">This is what your sovereign master,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> your God, says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Look, I have removed from your handp> <p class="poetry">the cup of intoxicating wine,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the goblet full of my anger.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">You will no longer have to drink it.p>

<p class="poetry">Wake up! Wake up!p> <p class="poetry">Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!p> <p class="poetry">Put on your beautiful clothes,p> <p class="poetry">O Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> holy city!p> <p class="poetry">For uncircumcised and unclean pagansp> <p class="poetry">will no longer invade you.p>