Then you will succeed, if you carefully obey the rules and regulations which the <sc>Lordsc> ordered Moses to give to Israel.<n id="1" /> Be strong and brave! Don&#8217;t be afraid and don&#8217;t panic!<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">David said to his son Solomon: &#8220;Be strong and brave! Do it! Don&#8217;t be afraid and don&#8217;t panic!<n id="1" /> For the <sc>Lordsc> God, my God, is with you. He will not leave you or abandon you before all the work for the service of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple is finished.

He said: &#8220;Pay attention, all you people of Judah,<n id="1" /> residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says to you: &#8216;Don&#8217;t be afraid and don&#8217;t panic<n id="2" /> because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God&#8217;s.

You will not fight in this battle. Take your positions, stand, and watch the <sc>Lordsc> deliver you,<n id="1" /> O Judah and Jerusalem. Don&#8217;t be afraid and don&#8217;t panic!<n id="2" /> Tomorrow march out toward them; the <sc>Lordsc> is with you!&#8217;&#8221;p>

Please,<n id="1" /> O Lord, listen attentively<n id="2" /> to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect<n id="3" /> to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me<n id="4" /> in the presence of this man.&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">Now<n id="5" /> I was cupbearer for the king.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;So now, our God &#8211; the great, powerful, and awesome God, who keeps covenant fidelity<n id="1" /> &#8211; do not regard as inconsequential<n id="2" /> all the hardship that has befallen us &#8211; our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people &#8211; from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day!

<t /><p class="poetry">I also know that whatever God does will endure forever;p> <p class="poetry">nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it.p> <p class="poetry">God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.p>

<p class="poetry">Everyone shares the same fate<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the righteous and the wicked,p> <p class="poetry">the good and the bad,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the ceremonially clean and unclean,p> <p class="poetry">those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.p> <p class="poetry">What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.p>

<p class="poetry">and they are afraid of heights and the dangers<n id="1" /> in the street;p> <p class="poetry">the almond blossoms<n id="2" /> grow white,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and the grasshopper<n id="4" /> drags itself along,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and the caper berry<n id="6" /> shrivels up<n id="7" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">because man goes to his eternal home,<n id="8" />p> <p class="poetry">and the mourners go about in the streets &#8211;p>

Tell him, &#8216;Make sure you stay calm!<n id="1" /> Don&#8217;t be afraid! Don&#8217;t be intimidated<n id="2" /> by these two stubs of smoking logs,<n id="3" /> or by the raging anger of Rezin, Syria, and the son of Remaliah.

<p class="bodytext">So<n id="1" /> here is what the sovereign master, the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies, says: &#8220;My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">that sends messengers by sea,p> <p class="poetry">who glide over the water&#8217;s surface in boats made of papyrus.p> <p class="poetry">Go, you swift messengers,p> <p class="poetry">to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">to a people that are feared far and wide,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">to a nation strong and victorious,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">whose land rivers divide.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">At that timep> <p class="poetry">tribute will be brought to the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies,p> <p class="poetry">by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned,p> <p class="poetry">a people that are feared far and wide,p> <p class="poetry">a nation strong and victorious,p> <p class="poetry">whose land rivers divide.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The tribute<n id="2" /> will be brought to the place where the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion.<n id="3" />p>

Isaiah said to them, &#8220;Tell your master this: &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid because of the things you have heard &#8211; these insults the king of Assyria&#8217;s servants have hurled against me.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!p> <p class="poetry">Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Shout, don&#8217;t be afraid!p> <p class="poetry">Say to the towns of Judah,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Here is your God!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!p> <p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t be intimidated,<n id="1" /> for you will not be humiliated!p> <p class="poetry">You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;p> <p class="poetry">you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment.<n id="2" />p>

She also saw<n id="1" /> that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods.<n id="2" /> Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this,<n id="3" /> she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods.<n id="4" />

<p class="poetry">&#8220;You should fear me!&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You should tremble in awe before me!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,p> <p class="poetry">a permanent barrier that it can never cross.p> <p class="poetry">Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.p> <p class="poetry">They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.p> <p class="poetry">They cannot talk.p> <p class="poetry">They must be carriedp> <p class="poetry">because they cannot walk.p> <p class="poetry">Do not be afraid of themp> <p class="poetry">because they cannot hurt you.p> <p class="poetry">And they do not have any power to help you.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will be like a tree planted near a streamp> <p class="poetry">whose roots spread out toward the water.p> <p class="poetry">It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.p> <p class="poetry">Its leaves are always green.p> <p class="poetry">It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought.p> <p class="poetry">It does not stop bearing fruit.p>