<p class="poetry">&#8216;What right do you have to be here? What relatives do you have buried here?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Why<n id="2" /> do you chisel out a tomb for yourself here?p> <p class="poetry">He chisels out his burial site in an elevated place,p> <p class="poetry">he carves out his tomb on a cliff.p>

<p class="poetry">For you are a protector for the poor,p> <p class="poetry">a protector for the needy in their distress,p> <p class="poetry">a shelter from the rainstorm,p> <p class="poetry">a shade from the heat.p> <p class="poetry">Though the breath of tyrants<n id="1" /> is like a winter rainstorm,<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Your treaty with death will be dissolved;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">your agreement<n id="2" /> with Sheol will not last.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">you will be overrun by it.<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">For this reason the <sc>Lordsc> is ready to show you mercy;p> <p class="poetry">he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, the <sc>Lordsc> is a just God;p> <p class="poetry">all who wait for him in faith will be blessed.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">You will desecrate your silver-plated idols<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and your gold-plated images.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag,p> <p class="poetry">saying to them, &#8220;Get out!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">a sword not made by humankind will destroy them.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They will run away from this sword<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.p>

<p class="poetry">Look, the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> comes as a victorious warrior;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">his military power establishes his rule.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Look, his reward is with him;p> <p class="poetry">his prize goes before him.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">he then seeks a skilled craftsmanp> <p class="poetry">to make<n id="2" /> an idol that will not fall over.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">With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;p> <p class="poetry">he bows down to it and worships it.p> <p class="poetry">He prays to it, saying,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Rescue me, for you are my god!&#8217;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">One who argues with his creator is in grave danger,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">one who is like a mere<n id="2" /> shard among the other shards on the ground!p> <p class="poetry">The clay should not say to the potter,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;What in the world<n id="4" /> are you doing?p> <p class="poetry">Your work lacks skill!&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who among you fears the <sc>Lordsc>?p> <p class="poetry">Who obeys<n id="1" /> his servant?p> <p class="poetry">Whoever walks in deep darkness,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">without light,p> <p class="poetry">should trust in the name of the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">and rely on his God.p>

<p class="poetry">He sprouted up like a twig before God,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">like a root out of parched soil;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">no special appearance that we should want to follow him.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">that will be better than sons and daughters.p> <p class="poetry">I will set up a permanent monument<n id="2" /> for them that will remain.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">He sees there is no advocate;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">he is shocked<n id="2" /> that no one intervenes.p> <p class="poetry">So he takes matters into his own hands;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">his desire for justice drives him on.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Through all that they suffered, he suffered too.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The messenger sent from his very presence<n id="2" /> delivered them.p> <p class="poetry">In his love and mercy he protected<n id="3" /> them;p> <p class="poetry">he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">no eye has seen any God besides you,p> <p class="poetry">who intervenes for those who wait for him.p>

<p class="bodytext">Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief<n id="1" /> and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.

<p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Where is your mother&#8217;s divorce certificatep> <p class="poetry">by which I divorced her?p> <p class="poetry">Or to which of my creditors did I sell you?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Look, you were sold because of your sins;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">because he willingly submitted<n id="3" /> to deathp> <p class="poetry">and was numbered with the rebels,p> <p class="poetry">when he lifted up the sin of manyp> <p class="poetry">and intervened<n id="4" /> on behalf of the rebels.&#8221;p>