<p class="poetry">Once he has leveled its surface,p> <p class="poetry">does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant,p> <p class="poetry">sow the seed of the cumin plant,p> <p class="poetry">and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places?<n id="1" />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>

Certainly you will not refuse one of my master&#8217;s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen.<n id="1" />

<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">Their residents are powerless;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they are terrified and ashamed.p> <p class="poetry">They are as short-lived as plants in the fieldp> <p class="poetry">or green vegetation.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">when it is scorched by the east wind.<n id="4" />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">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 decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?p> <p class="poetry">Who announced it<n id="1" /> ahead of time, so we could say, &#8216;He&#8217;s correct&#8217;?p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, none of them decreed it!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, none of them announced it!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, no one heard you say anything!p>

<p class="poetry">But the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> helps me,p> <p class="poetry">so I am not humiliated.p> <p class="poetry">For that reason I am steadfastly resolved;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I know I will not be put to shame.p>

<p class="poetry">Yet do not depart quicklyp> <p class="poetry">or leave in a panic.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> goes before you;p> <p class="poetry">the God of Israel is your rear guard.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">He was despised and rejected by people,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;p> <p class="poetry">people hid their faces from him;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">He was treated harshly and afflicted,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but he did not even open his mouth.p> <p class="poetry">Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,p> <p class="poetry">like a sheep silent before her shearers,p> <p class="poetry">he did not even open his mouth.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed you will go out with joy;p> <p class="poetry">you will be led along in peace;p> <p class="poetry">the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,p> <p class="poetry">and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.p>

<p class="poetry">The godly<n id="1" /> perish,p> <p class="poetry">but no one cares.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Honest people disappear,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">when no one<n id="4" /> minds<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">that the godly<n id="6" /> disappear<n id="7" /> because of<n id="8" /> evil.<n id="9" />p>

<p class="poetry">For I will not be hostile<n id="1" /> foreverp> <p class="poetry">or perpetually angry,p> <p class="poetry">for then man&#8217;s spirit would grow faint before me,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the life-giving breath I created.p>

<p class="poetry">Then your light will shine like the sunrise;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">your restoration will quickly arrive;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">your godly behavior<n id="3" /> will go before you,p> <p class="poetry">and the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s splendor will be your rear guard.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;p> <p class="poetry">your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Look, the <sc>Lordsc> announces to the entire earth:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Say to Daughter Zion,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Look, your deliverer comes!p> <p class="poetry">Look, his reward is with himp> <p class="poetry">and his reward goes before him!&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />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>