<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>

<p class="poetry">Tell me! Present the evidence!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let them consult with one another!p> <p class="poetry">Who predicted this in the past?p> <p class="poetry">Who announced it beforehand?p> <p class="poetry">Was it not I, the <sc>Lordsc>?p> <p class="poetry">I have no peer, there is no God but me,p> <p class="poetry">a God who vindicates and delivers;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">there is none but me.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>

<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>

<p class="poetry">No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;p> <p class="poetry">you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> will do for his servants &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">I will vindicate them,&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">The rain and snow fall from the skyp> <p class="poetry">and do not return,p> <p class="poetry">but instead water the earthp> <p class="poetry">and make it produce and yield crops,p> <p class="poetry">and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.p>

<p class="poetry">In the same way, the promise that I makep> <p class="poetry">does not return to me, having accomplished nothing.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No, it is realized as I desirep> <p class="poetry">and is fulfilled as I intend.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They seek me day after day;p> <p class="poetry">they want to know my requirements,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">like a nation that does what is rightp> <p class="poetry">and does not reject the law of their God.p> <p class="poetry">They ask me for just decrees;p> <p class="poetry">they want to be near God.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;As for me, this is my promise to<n id="1" /> them,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>. &#8220;My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,&#8221;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>