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A Hymn of Praise

¹⁰ Sing to the Lord a new song,
   his praise from the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar^* and all that fills it,
   the coastlands and their inhabitants.
¹¹ Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,
   the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,
   let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
¹² Let them give glory to the Lord,
   and declare his praise in the coastlands.
¹³ The Lord goes forth like a soldier,
   like a warrior he stirs up his fury;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
   he shows himself mighty against his foes.

¹⁴ For a long time I have held my peace,
   I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labour,
   I will gasp and pant.
¹⁵ I will lay waste mountains and hills,
   and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
   and dry up the pools.
¹⁶ I will lead the blind
   by a road they do not know,
by paths they have not known
   I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
   the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
   and I will not forsake them.
¹⁷ They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—
   those who trust in carved images,
who say to cast images,
   ‘You are our gods.’

¹⁸ Listen, you that are deaf;
   and you that are blind, look up and see!
¹⁹ Who is blind but my servant,
   or deaf like my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind like my dedicated one,
   or blind like the servant of the Lord?
²⁰ He sees many things, but does^* not observe them;
   his ears are open, but he does not hear.

Israel’s Disobedience

²¹ The Lord was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness,
   to magnify his teaching and make it glorious.
²² But this is a people robbed and plundered,
   all of them are trapped in holes
   and hidden in prisons;
they have become a prey with no one to rescue,
   a spoil with no one to say, ‘Restore!’
²³ Who among you will give heed to this,
   who will attend and listen for the time to come?
²⁴ Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler,
   and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
   in whose ways they would not walk,
   and whose law they would not obey?
²⁵ So he poured upon him the heat of his anger
   and the fury of war;
it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
   it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.

Restoration and Protection Promised

43But now thus says the Lord,
   he who created you, O Jacob,
   he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
   I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
   and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
   and the flame shall not consume you.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
   the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
   Ethiopia^* and Seba in exchange for you.
⁴ Because you are precious in my sight,
   and honoured, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
   nations in exchange for your life.