<p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc>, the one who made you, says &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid, my servant Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">Jeshurun,<n id="1" /> whom I have chosen!p>

<p class="poetry">One will say, &#8216;I belong to the <sc>Lordsc>,&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">and another will use<n id="1" /> the name &#8216;Jacob.&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">One will write on his hand, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s,&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">and use the name &#8216;Israel.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Remember these things, O Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">O Israel, for you are my servant.p> <p class="poetry">I formed you to be my servant;p> <p class="poetry">O Israel, I will not forget you!<n id="1" />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">&#8220;Listen to me, O family of Jacob,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">all you who are left from the family of Israel,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you who have been carried from birth,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Leave Babylon!p> <p class="poetry">Flee from the Babylonians!p> <p class="poetry">Announce it with a shout of joy!p> <p class="poetry">Make this known!p> <p class="poetry">Proclaim it throughout the earth!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Say, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> protects<n id="2" /> his servant Jacob.p>

<p class="poetry">I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;p> <p class="poetry">they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Then all humankind<n id="2" /> will recognize thatp> <p class="poetry">I am the <sc>Lordsc>, your deliverer,p> <p class="poetry">your protector,<n id="3" /> the powerful ruler of Jacob.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Shout loudly! Don&#8217;t be quiet!p> <p class="poetry">Yell as loud as a trumpet!p> <p class="poetry">Confront my people with their rebellious deeds;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">confront Jacob&#8217;s family with their sin!<n id="2" />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">You will drink the milk of nations;p> <p class="poetry">you will nurse at the breasts of kings.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Then you will recognize that I, the <sc>Lordsc>, am your deliverer,p> <p class="poetry">your protector,<n id="2" /> the powerful ruler of Jacob.<n id="3" />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>

<p class="bodytext">At that time<n id="1" /> those left in Israel, those who remain of the family<n id="2" /> of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them.<n id="3" /> Instead they will truly<n id="4" /> rely on the <sc>Lordsc>, the Holy One of Israel.<n id="5" />

<p class="poetry">So in this way Jacob&#8217;s sin will be forgiven,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and this is how they will show they are finished sinning:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They will make all the stones of the altars<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like crushed limestone,p> <p class="poetry">and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Shout for joy, O sky, for the <sc>Lordsc> intervenes;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">shout out, you subterranean regions<n id="2" /> of the earth.p> <p class="poetry">O mountains, give a joyful shout;p> <p class="poetry">you too, O forest and all your trees!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> protects<n id="4" /> Jacob;p> <p class="poetry">he reveals his splendor through Israel.<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Listen to this, O family of Jacob,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you who are called by the name &#8216;Israel,&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">and are descended from Judah,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">who take oaths in the name of the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">and invoke<n id="3" /> the God of Israel &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">but not in an honest and just manner.<n id="4" />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">he says, &#8220;Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,p> <p class="poetry">to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">and restore the remnant<n id="1" /> of Israel?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will make you a light to the nations,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">so you can bring<n id="4" /> my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.&#8221;p>