<p class="poetry">Listen,<n id="1" /> your watchmen shout;p> <p class="poetry">in unison they shout for joy,p> <p class="poetry">for they see with their very own eyes<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s return to Zion.p>

<p class="poetry">Leave! Leave! Get out of there!p> <p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t touch anything unclean!p> <p class="poetry">Get out of it!p> <p class="poetry">Stay pure, you who carry the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s holy items!<n id="1" />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">Look all around you!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They all gather and come to you &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">your sons come from far awayp> <p class="poetry">and your daughters are escorted by guardians.p>

<p class="poetry">Camel caravans will cover your roads,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">young camels from Midian and Ephah.p> <p class="poetry">All the merchants of Sheba<n id="2" /> will come,p> <p class="poetry">bringing gold and incensep> <p class="poetry">and singing praises to the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="3" />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">We are all like one who is unclean,p> <p class="poetry">all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">We all wither like a leaf;p> <p class="poetry">our sins carry us away like the wind.p>

<p class="poetry">He will judge disputes between nations;p> <p class="poetry">he will settle cases for many peoples.p> <p class="poetry">They will beat their swords into plowshares,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and their spears into pruning hooks.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,p> <p class="poetry">and they will no longer train for war.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">This is a message<n id="1" /> about the animals in the Negev:p> <p class="poetry">Through a land of distress and danger,p> <p class="poetry">inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">by snakes and darting adders,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">they transport<n id="4" /> their wealth on the backs of donkeys,p> <p class="poetry">their riches on the humps of camels,p> <p class="poetry">to a nation that cannot help them.<n id="5" />p>

Perhaps the <sc>Lordsc> your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God.<n id="1" /> When the <sc>Lordsc> your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said.<n id="2" /> So pray for this remnant that remains.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

&#8216;Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors<n id="1" /> have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.

<p class="poetry">Look up at the sky!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Who created all these heavenly lights?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He is the one who leads out their ranks;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">he calls them all by name.p> <p class="poetry">Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,p> <p class="poetry">not one of them is missing.p>

<p class="poetry">Look up at the sky!p> <p class="poetry">Look at the earth below!p> <p class="poetry">For the sky will dissipate<n id="1" /> like smoke,p> <p class="poetry">and the earth will wear out like clothes;p> <p class="poetry">its residents will die like gnats.p> <p class="poetry">But the deliverance I give<n id="2" /> is permanent;p> <p class="poetry">the vindication I provide<n id="3" /> will not disappear.<n id="4" />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>

<p class="poetry">For this is what the high and exalted one says,p> <p class="poetry">the one who rules<n id="1" /> forever, whose name is holy:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I dwell in an exalted and holy place,p> <p class="poetry">but also with the discouraged and humiliated,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">in order to cheer up the humiliatedp> <p class="poetry">and to encourage the discouraged.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">For this is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,p> <p class="poetry">the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You will nurse from her breast<n id="2" /> and be carried at her side;p> <p class="poetry">you will play on her knees.p>