Do you think that I can not save you?
1The Lord says:
‘You think that I gave you away
like a man who divorces his wife.
I did not chase you away.
You think that I sold you,
like a man who owed money
and had to sell his children.
I did not sell you.
You sold yourselves
when you sinned and rebelled_against Me.
It is your own fault.
2When I came to help you,
there was no one, and when I called you,
you did not answer Me.
Do you think that I can not help you?
Do you think that my arm is too short
or that I am not strong enough to save you?
You must know this,
when I become angry and rebuke the sea,
it becomes dry and the rivers become a desert.
Then the fish have no water,
and they die and they stink.
3I can make the sky dark
like someone who is sad and puts on sack-cloth.’
The Lord helps his servant
4The servant of the Lord says:
‘The Lord has given me
the right words to speak.
I know what to say to help people
who are tired to make them feel strong again.
The Lord wakes me up every morning,
and He makes me want to listen to Him.
5The Lord has taught me to listen.
I obeyed Him, and I did not rebel_against Him.
6The people beat me on my back
and they pulled out my beard,
but I did not try to stop them. I stood still.
They humiliated me,
and they spat in my face,
but I did not turn away my face.
7Yes, the Lord helps me. That is why
people can not humiliate me,
and that is why their words can not hurt me.
I keep my head up high,
and I know that God will never let me down.
8The Lord will show that I was right
and that He is with me.
Who will take me to court? Let us go.
If someone wants to accuse me,
he will have to prove that I have done wrong.
9You must know that the Lord helps me.
Who wants to say that I am guilty?
My enemies will have a lot of trouble,
and they will be like clothes
after moths have eaten them.
10There are people who serve the Lord
and who listen to me,
his servant. When they suffer
and it is dark around them,
they must trust in God,
and they must know that He will help them.
11But you who start fires to burn me,
you who are shooting burning arrows at me,
you will burn in the fire that you have started.
Those arrows will burn you.
This is what the Lord will do.
He will make you lie down on the ground in pain.’
