<p class="poetry">O sky, rain down from above!p> <p class="poetry">Let the clouds send down showers<n id="1" /> of deliverance!p> <p class="poetry">Let the earth absorb it<n id="2" /> so salvation may grow,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and deliverance may sprout up<n id="4" /> along with it.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, create it.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">I made the earth,p> <p class="poetry">I created the people who live<n id="1" /> on it.p> <p class="poetry">It was me &#8211; my hands<n id="2" /> stretched out the sky,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I give orders to all the heavenly lights.<n id="4" />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">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;p> <p class="poetry">in the day of deliverance I will help you;p> <p class="poetry">I will protect you<n id="1" /> and make you a covenant mediator for people,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">to rebuild<n id="3" /> the land<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and to reassign the desolate property.p>

<p class="poetry">Shout for joy, O sky!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Rejoice, O earth!p> <p class="poetry">Let the mountains give a joyful shout!p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> consoles his peoplep> <p class="poetry">and shows compassion to the<n id="2" /> oppressed.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">I commission you<n id="1" /> as my spokesman;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I cover you with the palm of my hand,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">to establish<n id="4" /> the sky and to found the earth,p> <p class="poetry">to say to Zion, &#8216;You are my people.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> reveals<n id="1" /> his royal power<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">in the sight of all the nations;p> <p class="poetry">the entire<n id="3" /> earth seesp> <p class="poetry">our God deliver.<n id="4" />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">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>

<p class="poetry">For, look, darkness covers the earthp> <p class="poetry">and deep darkness covers<n id="1" /> the nations,p> <p class="poetry">but the <sc>Lordsc> shines on you;p> <p class="poetry">his splendor<n id="2" /> appears over you.p>

<p class="poetry">I brought you<n id="1" /> into a fertile landp> <p class="poetry">so you could enjoy<n id="2" /> its fruits and its rich bounty.p> <p class="poetry">But when you entered my land, you defiled it;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">you made the land I call my own<n id="4" /> loathsome to me.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Look up at the hilltops and consider this.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You have had sex with other gods on every one of them.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Beware! An army<n id="1" /> is coming from a land in the north.p> <p class="poetry">A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.p>

<p class="poetry">The snorting of the enemy&#8217;s horsesp> <p class="poetry">is already being heard in the city of Dan.p> <p class="poetry">The sound of the neighing of their stallions<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">causes the whole land to tremble with fear.p> <p class="poetry">They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it!p> <p class="poetry">They are coming to destroy<n id="2" /> the cities and everyone who lives in them!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion.p> <p class="poetry">They will wail,<n id="1" /> &#8216;We are utterly ruined!<n id="2" /> We are completely disgraced!p> <p class="poetry">For our houses have been torn downp> <p class="poetry">and we must leave our land.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />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">They will be like a shrub<n id="1" /> in the desert.p> <p class="poetry">They will not experience good things even when they happen.p> <p class="poetry">It will be as though they were growing in the desert,p> <p class="poetry">in a salt land where no one can live.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;Do not weep for the king who was killed.p> <p class="poetry">Do not grieve for him.p> <p class="poetry">But weep mournfully for the king who has gone into exile.p> <p class="poetry">For he will never return to see his native land again.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="1" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Disaster will soon come on one nation after another.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">A mighty storm of military destruction<n id="3" /> is rising upp> <p class="poetry">from the distant parts of the earth.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">Then I will reply,<n id="1" /> &#8216;I will bring them back from the land of the north.p> <p class="poetry">I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth.p> <p class="poetry">Blind and lame people will come with them,p> <p class="poetry">so will pregnant women and women about to give birth.p> <p class="poetry">A vast throng of people will come back here.p>