<p class="poetry">You<n id="1" /> will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;This is the correct<n id="2" /> way, walk in it,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">whether you are heading to the right or the left.p>

<p class="poetry">Because you rage against mep> <p class="poetry">and the uproar you create has reached my ears,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will put my hook in your nose,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and my bridle between your lips,p> <p class="poetry">and I will lead you backp> <p class="poetry">the way you came.&#8221;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>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Look, I am about to do something new.p> <p class="poetry">Now it begins to happen!<n id="1" /> Do you not recognize<n id="2" /> it?p> <p class="poetry">Yes, I will make a road in the desertp> <p class="poetry">and paths<n id="3" /> in the wilderness.p>

<p class="poetry">It is me &#8211; I stir him up and commission him;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will make all his ways level.p> <p class="poetry">He will rebuild my city;p> <p class="poetry">he will send my exiled people home,p> <p class="poetry">but not for a price or a bribe,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies.p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc>, your protector,<n id="1" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">the Holy One of Israel:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am the <sc>Lordsc> your God,p> <p class="poetry">who teaches you how to succeed,p> <p class="poetry">who leads you in the way you should go.p>

<p class="poetry">Did you not dry up the sea,p> <p class="poetry">the waters of the great deep?p> <p class="poetry">Did you not make<n id="1" /> a path through the depths of the sea,p> <p class="poetry">so those delivered from bondage<n id="2" /> could cross over?p>

<p class="poetry">The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and sinful people their plans.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They should return<n id="3" /> to the <sc>Lordsc>, and he will show mercy to them,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and to their God, for he will freely forgive them.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">The dogs have big appetites;p> <p class="poetry">they are never full.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They are shepherds who have no understanding;p> <p class="poetry">they all go their own way,p> <p class="poetry">each one looking for monetary gain.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Because of the long distance you must travel, you get tired,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but you do not say, &#8216;I give up.&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">You get renewed energy,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">so you don&#8217;t collapse.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">They are unfamiliar with peace;p> <p class="poetry">their deeds are unjust.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They use deceitful methods,p> <p class="poetry">and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Come through! Come through the gates!p> <p class="poetry">Prepare the way for the people!p> <p class="poetry">Build it! Build the roadway!p> <p class="poetry">Remove the stones!p> <p class="poetry">Lift a signal flag for the nations!p>

<p class="poetry">You assist<n id="1" /> those who delight in doing what is right,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">who observe your commandments.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.p> <p class="poetry">How then can we be saved?<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I spread out my hands all day longp> <p class="poetry">to my rebellious people,p> <p class="poetry">who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable,p> <p class="poetry">and who did what they desired.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">many peoples will come and say,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Come, let us go up to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s mountain,p> <p class="poetry">to the temple of the God of Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">so<n id="1" /> he can teach us his requirements,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and<n id="3" /> we can follow his standards.&#8221;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">For Zion will be the center for moral instruction;<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">the <sc>Lordsc> will issue edicts from Jerusalem.<n id="6" />p>

<v id="(8:23)" /><n id="1" /> The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">In earlier times he<n id="3" /> humiliatedp> <p class="poetry">the land of Zebulun,p> <p class="poetry">and the land of Naphtali;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">but now he brings honor<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">to the way of the sea,p> <p class="poetry">the region beyond the Jordan,p> <p class="poetry">and Galilee of the nations.<n id="6" />p>

<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">My heart cries out because of Moab&#8217;s plight,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and for the fugitives<n id="2" /> stretched out<n id="3" /> as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah.p> <p class="poetry">For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;p> <p class="poetry">they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will guide them down paths they have never traveled.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,p> <p class="poetry">and level out the rough ground.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">This is what I will do for them.p> <p class="poetry">I will not abandon them.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>