O descendants ¹  of Jacob, come, let us walk in the Lord’s guiding light. ² 

The Lord says, “The women ¹  of Zion are proud. They walk with their heads high ²  and flirt with their eyes. They skip along ³  and the jewelry on their ankles jingles. ⁴ 

Nations come to your light, kings to your bright light.

who led them through the deep water? Like a horse running on flat land ¹  they did not stumble.

Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic. ¹  For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard.

So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. ¹ 

Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace; they rest on their beds. ¹ 

many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple of the God of Jacob, so ¹  he can teach us his requirements, ²  and ³  we can follow his standards.” ⁴  For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; ⁵  the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. ⁶ 

“Hey, ¹  all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost! ² 

For this is what the sovereign master ¹  has told me: “Go, post a guard! He must report what he sees.

They travel down to Egypt without seeking my will, ¹  seeking Pharaoh’s protection, and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ² 

“I thought, ¹  ‘In the middle of my life ²  I must walk through the gates of Sheol, I am deprived ³  of the rest of my years.’

“I will go before you and level mountains. ¹  Bronze doors I will shatter and iron bars ²  I will hack through.

They will all be ashamed and embarrassed; those who fashion idols will all be humiliated. ¹ 

Together they bend low and kneel down; they are unable to rescue the images; ¹  they themselves ²  head off into captivity. ³ 

They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions; he makes water flow out of a rock for them; he splits open a rock and water flows out.’ ¹ 

I was angry because of their sinful greed; I attacked them and angrily rejected them, ¹  yet they remained disobedient and stubborn. ² 

the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, ¹  who divided the water before them, gaining for himself a lasting reputation, ² 

At that time the Lord announced through ¹  Isaiah son of Amoz: “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and take your sandals off your feet.” He did as instructed and walked around in undergarments ²  and barefoot.

¹ Come, let’s consider your options,” ²  says the Lord. “Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become ³  white like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become ⁴  white like wool. ⁵