<p class="poetry">Do you not know?p> <p class="poetry">Have you not heard?p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> is an eternal God,p> <p class="poetry">the creator of the whole earth.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He does not get tired or weary;p> <p class="poetry">there is no limit to his wisdom.<n id="2" />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 will make streams flow down the slopesp> <p class="poetry">and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.p> <p class="poetry">I will turn the desert into a pool of waterp> <p class="poetry">and the arid land into springs.p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the true God,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>, says &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the one who created the sky and stretched it out,p> <p class="poetry">the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who gives breath to the people on it,p> <p class="poetry">and life to those who live on it:<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc>, your protector,<n id="1" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">the one who formed you in the womb:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am the <sc>Lordsc>, who made everything,p> <p class="poetry">who alone stretched out the sky,p> <p class="poetry">who fashioned the earth all by myself,<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">O sky, rain down from above!p> <p class="poetry">Let the clouds send down showers<n id="1" /> of deliverance!p> <p class="poetry">Let the earth absorb it<n id="2" /> so salvation may grow,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and deliverance may sprout up<n id="4" /> along with it.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, create it.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">I made the earth,p> <p class="poetry">I created the people who live<n id="1" /> on it.p> <p class="poetry">It was me &#8211; my hands<n id="2" /> stretched out the sky,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I give orders to all the heavenly lights.<n id="4" />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">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">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">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;p> <p class="poetry">in the day of deliverance I will help you;p> <p class="poetry">I will protect you<n id="1" /> and make you a covenant mediator for people,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">to rebuild<n id="3" /> the land<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and to reassign the desolate property.p>

<p class="poetry">Shout for joy, O sky!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Rejoice, O earth!p> <p class="poetry">Let the mountains give a joyful shout!p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> consoles his peoplep> <p class="poetry">and shows compassion to the<n id="2" /> oppressed.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">I commission you<n id="1" /> as my spokesman;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I cover you with the palm of my hand,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">to establish<n id="4" /> the sky and to found the earth,p> <p class="poetry">to say to Zion, &#8216;You are my people.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will put it into the hand of your tormentors<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">who said to you, &#8216;Lie down, so we can walk over you.&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">You made your back like the ground,p> <p class="poetry">and like the street for those who walked over you.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> reveals<n id="1" /> his royal power<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">in the sight of all the nations;p> <p class="poetry">the entire<n id="3" /> earth seesp> <p class="poetry">our God deliver.<n id="4" />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 led away after an unjust trial<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">but who even cared?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">because of the rebellion of his own<n id="4" /> people he was wounded.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">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">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>