<t /><p class="bodytext">These are the final words of David:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The oracle of David son of Jesse,p> <p class="poetry">the oracle of the man raised up asp> <p class="poetry">the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Israel&#8217;s beloved<n id="2" /> singer of songs:p>

Then Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of tribes that descended from Jacob, to whom the <sc>Lordsc> had said, &#8220;Israel will be your new<n id="1" /> name.&#8221;<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">I wish the deliverance<n id="1" /> of Israel would come from Zion!p> <p class="poetry">When the <sc>Lordsc> restores the well-being of his people,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">may Jacob rejoice,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">may Israel be happy!<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">You loyal followers of the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" /> praise him!p> <p class="poetry">All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!p> <p class="poetry">All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I wish the deliverance<n id="1" /> of Israel would come from Zion!p> <p class="poetry">When God restores the well-being of his people,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">may Jacob rejoice,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">may Israel be happy!<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish!p> <p class="poetry">Let them know that God rulesp> <p class="poetry">in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Indeed, O <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" /> you have abandoned your people,p> <p class="poetry">the descendants of Jacob.p> <p class="poetry">For diviners from the east are everywhere;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">they consult omen readers like the Philistines do.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Plenty of foreigners are around.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">For when they see their children,p> <p class="poetry">whom I will produce among them,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they will honor<n id="2" /> my name.p> <p class="poetry">They will honor the Holy One of Jacob;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">they will respect<n id="4" /> the God of Israel.p>

<p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">men of<n id="2" /> Israel.p> <p class="poetry">I am helping you,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">your protector,<n id="3" /> the Holy One of Israel.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who handed Jacob over to the robber?p> <p class="poetry">Who handed Israel over to the looters?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Was it not the <sc>Lordsc>, against whom we sinned?p> <p class="poetry">They refused to follow his commands;p> <p class="poetry">they disobeyed his law.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Now, this is what the <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">the one who created you, O Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">and formed you, O Israel:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid, for I will protect<n id="1" /> you.p> <p class="poetry">I call you by name, you are mine.p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc>, the one who made you, says &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid, my servant Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">Jeshurun,<n id="1" /> whom I have chosen!p>

<p class="poetry">One will say, &#8216;I belong to the <sc>Lordsc>,&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">and another will use<n id="1" /> the name &#8216;Jacob.&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">One will write on his hand, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s,&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">and use the name &#8216;Israel.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Remember these things, O Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">O Israel, for you are my servant.p> <p class="poetry">I formed you to be my servant;p> <p class="poetry">O Israel, I will not forget you!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">I have not spoken in secret,p> <p class="poetry">in some hidden place.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I did not tell Jacob&#8217;s descendants,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Seek me in vain!&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I am the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">the one who speaks honestly,p> <p class="poetry">who makes reliable announcements.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Listen to me, O family of Jacob,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">all you who are left from the family of Israel,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you who have been carried from birth,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Leave Babylon!p> <p class="poetry">Flee from the Babylonians!p> <p class="poetry">Announce it with a shout of joy!p> <p class="poetry">Make this known!p> <p class="poetry">Proclaim it throughout the earth!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Say, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> protects<n id="2" /> his servant Jacob.p>

<p class="poetry">I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;p> <p class="poetry">they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Then all humankind<n id="2" /> will recognize thatp> <p class="poetry">I am the <sc>Lordsc>, your deliverer,p> <p class="poetry">your protector,<n id="3" /> the powerful ruler of Jacob.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Shout loudly! Don&#8217;t be quiet!p> <p class="poetry">Yell as loud as a trumpet!p> <p class="poetry">Confront my people with their rebellious deeds;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">confront Jacob&#8217;s family with their sin!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Then you will find joy in your relationship to the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and I will give you great prosperity,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and cause crops to grow on the land I gave to your ancestor Jacob.&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Know for certain that the <sc>Lordsc> has spoken.<n id="4" />p>