<p class="bodytext">Hezekiah took the letter<n id="1" /> from the messengers and read it.<n id="2" /> Then Hezekiah went up to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and spread it out before the <sc>Lordsc>.

<p class="poetry">Who stirs up this one from the east?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Who<n id="2" /> officially commissions him for service?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">He hands nations over to him,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and enables him to subdue<n id="5" /> kings.p> <p class="poetry">He makes them like dust with his sword,p> <p class="poetry">like windblown straw with his bow.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who acts and carries out decrees?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Who<n id="2" /> summons the successive generations from the beginning?p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, am present at the very beginning,p> <p class="poetry">and at the very end &#8211; I am the one.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">you whom I am bringing back<n id="1" /> from the earth&#8217;s extremities,p> <p class="poetry">and have summoned from the remote regions &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">I told you, &#8220;You are my servant.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">I have chosen you and not rejected you.p>

<p class="poetry">I have stirred up one out of the north<n id="1" /> and he advances,p> <p class="poetry">one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He steps on<n id="3" /> rulers as if they were clay,p> <p class="poetry">like a potter treading the clay.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Now, this is what the <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">the one who created you, O Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">and formed you, O Israel:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid, for I will protect<n id="1" /> you.p> <p class="poetry">I call you by name, you are mine.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">Who is like me? Let him make his claim!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let him announce it and explain it to me &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">since I established an ancient people &#8211; <n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">let them announce future events!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will give you hidden treasures,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">riches stashed away in secret places,p> <p class="poetry">so you may recognize that I am the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.p>

<p class="poetry">who summons an eagle<n id="1" /> from the east,p> <p class="poetry">from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.p> <p class="poetry">Yes, I have decreed,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">yes, I will bring it to pass;p> <p class="poetry">I have formulated a plan,p> <p class="poetry">yes, I will carry it out.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Sit silently! Go to a hiding place,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">O daughter of the Babylonians!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="2" /> you will no longer be called &#8216;Queen of kingdoms.&#8217;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Listen to me, you coastlands!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Pay attention, you people who live far away!p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> summoned me from birth;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">For your husband is the one who made you &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies is his name.p> <p class="poetry">He is your protector,<n id="1" /> the Holy One of Israel.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He is called &#8220;God of the entire earth.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Indeed, the <sc>Lordsc> will call you backp> <p class="poetry">like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">like a young wife when she has been rejected,&#8221; says your God.p>

<p class="poetry">Look, you will summon nations<n id="1" /> you did not previously know;p> <p class="poetry">nations<n id="2" /> that did not previously know you will run to you,p> <p class="poetry">because of the <sc>Lordsc> your God,p> <p class="poetry">the Holy One of Israel,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">for he bestows honor on you.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 call out, and the <sc>Lordsc> will respond;p> <p class="poetry">you will cry out, and he will reply, &#8216;Here I am.&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">You must<n id="1" /> remove the burdensome yoke from among youp> <p class="poetry">and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.p>

<p class="poetry">Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you will reestablish the ancient foundations.p> <p class="poetry">You will be called, &#8216;The one who repairs broken walls,p> <p class="poetry">the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.&#8217;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">No one is concerned about justice;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">no one sets forth his case truthfully.p> <p class="poetry">They depend on false words<n id="2" /> and tell lies;p> <p class="poetry">they conceive of oppression<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and give birth to sin.p>

<p class="poetry">The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you;p> <p class="poetry">all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet.p> <p class="poetry">They will call you, &#8216;The City of the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">Zion of the Holy One of Israel.&#8217;<n id="1" />p>