1 Listen to me,
you islands. Pay attention, you people
far away. Before I was born, the
LORD chose me. While I was in my mother's womb, he recorded my name.
2He
made my tongue like a sharp sword and hid me in the palm of his hand. He made
me like a sharpened arrow and hid me in his quiver.
3He
said to me, "You are my servant Israel. I will display my glory through
you."
4But I said, "I have worked hard for nothing. I have used my strength,
but I didn't accomplish anything. Yet, certainly my case is in the LORD's hands, and my
reward is with my God."
HIS
PURPOSE: 5The LORD formed me in the womb to be his servant in order to
bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to him. (The LORD honors me, and my
God has become my strength
6Now, the Lord says, "You are not just my servant who restores the
tribes of Jacob and brings back those in Israel whom I have preserved. I have also made you a light
for the nations so that
you would save people all over the world." -----THE LORD TALKS
7The LORD is the defender of Israel, its Holy One. This is
what the LORD says to the
despised one, to the
one scorned by the nation, to the slave of rulers:
HIS
PROMISE: Kings will
see [you] and stand. Princes will see [you] and bow. The LORD is faithful. The Holy
One of Israel has chosen you.
8This
is what the LORD says: In the time of favor I will answer you. In the day of
salvation I will help you. I will protect you. I will appoint you as my promise
to the people. You will restore the land. You will make them inherit the
desolate inheritance.
9You
will say to the prisoners, "Come out," and to those who are in
darkness, "Show yourselves." They will graze along every path, and
they will find pastures on every bare hill.
10They
will never be hungry or thirsty, nor will the sun or the burning, hot wind
strike them. The one who has compassion on them will lead them and guide them
to springs.
11I
will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be restored.
12They
will come from far away. They will come from the north and from the west, and
they will come from the land of Sinim.
13Sing with joy, you heavens! Rejoice, you earth! Break into
shouts of joy, you mountains! The LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on
his humble people. --------ISAIAH TALKS
14But Zion said, "The LORD has abandoned me. My Lord has forgotten me."-------
ISARAEL TALKS
15Can
a woman forget her nursing child? Will she have no compassion on the child from
her womb? Although
mothers may forget, I will not forget you.
16I
have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are always in my
presence.
17Your
children will hurry back. Those who destroyed you and laid waste to you will
leave you.
18Look up, look
around, and watch! All of your children are gathering together and returning to you.
"I solemnly swear as I live," declares the LORD, "you will wear
all of them like jewels and display them on yourself as a bride would."
19Though
you are destroyed and demolished and your land is in ruins, you will be too
crowded for [your] people now. Those who devoured you will be long gone.
20The
children taken from you will say to you, "This place is too crowded for
me. Make room for me to live here."
21Then you will ask yourself, "Who has fathered these [children] for me?
I was childless and unable to have children. I was exiled and rejected. Who raised these [children for
me]? I was left alone. Where have they come from?"
22This is what the Almighty LORD says: I will lift my hand
[to signal] the nations. I will raise my flag for the people. They will bring
your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23Then kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens
will nurse you. They will bow in front of you with their faces touching the
ground. They will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the
LORD. Those
who wait with hope for me will not be put to shame.
24Can
loot be taken away from mighty men or prisoners be freed from conquerors?
25This is what the LORD says: Prisoners will be freed from
mighty men. Loot will be taken away from tyrants. I will fight your enemies, and I will save
your children.
26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they
will become drunk on their own blood as though it were new wine. Then all humanity
will know that I am the LORD, who saves you, the Mighty One of Jacob, who
reclaims you.
In any crisis it is important to keep
these things in perspective.
Questions –
things not understood
Concerns –
things to forget
Commands
– things to do
Declarations
– things to remember
Acts of God –
things to marvel at
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