<p class="poetry">Each of them<n id="1" /> will be like a shelter from the windp> <p class="poetry">and a refuge from a rainstorm;p> <p class="poetry">like streams of water in a dry regionp> <p class="poetry">and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.p>

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Here is my servant whom I support,p> <p class="poetry">my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.p> <p class="poetry">I have placed my spirit on him;p> <p class="poetry">he will make just decrees<n id="2" /> for the nations.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the true God,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>, says &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the one who created the sky and stretched it out,p> <p class="poetry">the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who gives breath to the people on it,p> <p class="poetry">and life to those who live on it:<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">For I will pour water on the parched ground<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and cause streams to flow<n id="2" /> on the dry land.p> <p class="poetry">I will pour my spirit on your offspringp> <p class="poetry">and my blessing on your children.p>

<p class="poetry">Approach me! Listen to this!p> <p class="poetry">From the very first I have not spoken in secret;p> <p class="poetry">when it happens,<n id="1" /> I am there.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">So now, the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> has sent me, accompanied by his spirit.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Indeed, the <sc>Lordsc> will call you backp> <p class="poetry">like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">like a young wife when she has been rejected,&#8221; says your God.p>

<p class="poetry">When you cry out for help, let your idols<n id="1" /> help you!p> <p class="poetry">The wind blows them all away,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">a breeze carries them away.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">But the one who looks to me for help<n id="4" /> will inherit the landp> <p class="poetry">and will have access to<n id="5" /> my holy mountain.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">For I will not be hostile<n id="1" /> foreverp> <p class="poetry">or perpetually angry,p> <p class="poetry">for then man&#8217;s spirit would grow faint before me,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the life-giving breath I created.p>

<p class="poetry">In the west, people respect<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s reputation;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">in the east they recognize his splendor.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For he comes like a rushing<n id="4" /> streamp> <p class="poetry">driven on by wind sent from the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">His people remembered the ancient times.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,p> <p class="poetry">along with the shepherd of<n id="2" /> his flock?p> <p class="poetry">Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them,<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">so the Spirit of the <sc>Lordsc> granted them rest.p> <p class="poetry">In this way<n id="2" /> you guided your people,p> <p class="poetry">gaining for yourself an honored reputation.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">We are all like one who is unclean,p> <p class="poetry">all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">We all wither like a leaf;p> <p class="poetry">our sins carry us away like the wind.p>

<p class="poetry">You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.p> <p class="poetry">In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No one can hold her back when she is in heat.p> <p class="poetry">None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.p> <p class="poetry">At mating time she is easy to find.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem<n id="1" /> will be told,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;A scorching wind will sweep downp> <p class="poetry">from the hilltops in the desert on<n id="2" /> my dear people.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">It will not be a gentle breezep> <p class="poetry">for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">When his voice thunders,<n id="1" /> the heavenly ocean roars.p> <p class="poetry">He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.p> <p class="poetry">He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">All these idolaters<n id="1" /> will prove to be stupid and ignorant.p> <p class="poetry">Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.p> <p class="poetry">For the image he forges is merely a sham.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">There is no breath in any of those idols.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">My judgment will carry off all your leaders like a storm wind!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Your allies will go into captivity.p> <p class="poetry">Then you will certainly<n id="2" /> be disgraced and put to shamep> <p class="poetry">because of all the wickedness you have done.p>

<p class="poetry">Their camels will be taken as plunder.p> <p class="poetry">Their vast herds will be taken as spoil.p> <p class="poetry">I will scatter to the four windsp> <p class="poetry">those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will bring disaster against themp> <p class="poetry">from every direction,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will cause a destructive wind<n id="1" /> to blowp> <p class="poetry">against<n id="2" /> Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">When his voice thunders, the waters in the heavens roar.p> <p class="poetry">He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons.p> <p class="poetry">He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.p> <p class="poetry">He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.p>