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⁷ For thus says the Lord:
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
   and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
   ‘Save, O Lord, your people,
   the remnant of Israel.’
⁸ See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
   and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
   those with child and those in labour, together;
   a great company, they shall return here.
⁹ With weeping they shall come,
   and with consolations^* I will lead them back,
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
   in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;
for I have become a father to Israel,
   and Ephraim is my firstborn.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
   and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
   and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.’
¹¹ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
   and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
¹² They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
   and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
   and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
   and they shall never languish again.
¹³ Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
   and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
   I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
¹⁴ I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
   and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,

says the Lord.

The Praise of Wisdom ^*

24Wisdom praises herself,
   and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.
² In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,
   and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her glory:
³ ‘I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,
   and covered the earth like a mist.
⁴ I dwelt in the highest heavens,
   and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
⁵ Alone I compassed the vault of heaven
   and traversed the depths of the abyss.
⁶ Over waves of the sea, over all the earth,
   and over every people and nation I have held sway.^*
7 Among all these I sought a resting-place;
   in whose territory should I abide?

⁸ ‘Then the Creator of all things gave me a command,
   and my Creator chose the place for my tent.
He said, “Make your dwelling in Jacob,
   and in Israel receive your inheritance.”
⁹ Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me,
   and for all the ages I shall not cease to be.
¹⁰ In the holy tent I ministered before him,
   and so I was established in Zion.
¹¹ Thus in the beloved city he gave me a resting-place,
   and in Jerusalem was my domain.
¹² I took root in an honoured people,
   in the portion of the Lord, his heritage.