To The Word – Day 105

₁Jerusalem, be strong and great again!

Holy city of God, clothe yourself with splendour!

The heathen will never enter your gates again.

₂Shake yourself free, Jerusalem!

Rise from the dust and sit on your throne!

Undo the chains that bind you,

captive people of Zion!

₇How wonderful it is to see

a messenger coming across the mountains,

bringing good news, the news of peace!

He announces victory and says to Zion,

“Your God is king!”

₈Those who guard the city are shouting,

shouting together for joy!

They can see with their own eyes

the return of the LORD to Zion!

₉Break into shouts of joy,

you ruins of Jerusalem!

The LORD will rescue his city

and comfort his people.

₁₀The LORD will use his holy power;

he will save his people,

and all the world will see it.

₁₁Make sure you leave Babylonia,

all you that carry the temple equipment!

Touch no forbidden thing;

keep yourselves holy and leave.

₁₂This time you will not have to leave in a hurry;

you will not be trying to escape.

The LORD your God will lead you

and protect you on every side.

“My servant will succeed in his task;

he will be highly honoured.

₁₄Many people were shocked when they saw him;

he was so disfigured that he hardly looked human.

₁₅But now many nations will marvel at him,

and kings will be speechless with amazement.

They will see and understand

something they had never known.”

“Who would have believed what we now report?

Who could have seen the LORD's hand in this?

₂It was the will of the LORD that his servant

should grow like a plant taking root in dry ground.

He had no dignity or beauty

to make us take notice of him.

There was nothing attractive about him,

nothing that would draw us to him.

₃We despised him and rejected him;

he endured suffering and pain.

No one would even look at him —

we ignored him as if he were nothing.

₄“But he endured the suffering that should have been ours,

the pain that we should have borne.

All the while we thought that his suffering

was punishment sent by God.

₅But because of our sins he was wounded,

beaten because of the evil we did.

We are healed by the punishment he suffered,

made whole by the blows he received.

₆All of us were like sheep that were lost,

each of us going his own way.

But the LORD made the punishment fall on him,

the punishment all of us deserved.

₇“He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly;

he never said a word.

Like a lamb about to be slaughtered,

like a sheep about to be sheared,

he never said a word.

₈He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die,

and no one cared about his fate.

He was put to death for the sins of our people.

₉He was placed in a grave with the wicked,

he was buried with the rich,

even though he had never committed a crime

or ever told a lie.”

“It was my will that he should suffer;

his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness.

And so he will see his descendants;

he will live a long life,

and through him my purpose will succeed.

₁₁After a life of suffering, he will again have joy;

he will know that he did not suffer in vain.

My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased,

will bear the punishment of many

and for his sake I will forgive them.

₁₂And so I will give him a place of honour,

a place among the great and powerful.

He willingly gave his life

and shared the fate of evil men.

He took the place of many sinners

and prayed that they might be forgiven.”

₁Jerusalem, you have been like a childless woman,

but now you can sing and shout for joy.

Now you will have more children

than a woman whose husband never left her!

₂Make the tent you live in larger;

lengthen its ropes and strengthen the pegs!

₃You will extend your boundaries on all sides;

your people will get back the land

that the other nations now occupy.

Cities now deserted will be filled with people.

₄Do not be afraid — you will not be disgraced again;

you will not be humiliated.

You will forget your unfaithfulness as a young wife,

and your desperate loneliness as a widow.

₅Your Creator will be like a husband to you —

the LORD Almighty is his name.

The holy God of Israel will save you —

he is the ruler of all the world.

₆Israel, you are like a young wife,

deserted by her husband and deeply distressed.

But the LORD calls you back to him and says:

₇“For one brief moment I left you;

with deep love I will take you back.

₈I turned away angry for only a moment,

but I will show you my love for ever.”

So says the LORD who saves you.

₉“In the time of Noah I promised

never again to flood the earth.

Now I promise not to be angry with you again;

I will not reprimand or punish you.

₁₀The mountains and hills may crumble,

but my love for you will never end;

I will keep for ever my promise of peace.”

So says the LORD who loves you.

“O Jerusalem, you suffering, helpless city,

with no one to comfort you,

I will rebuild your foundations with precious stones.

₁₂I will build your towers with rubies,

your gates with stones that glow like fire,

and the wall around you with jewels.

₁₃“I myself will teach your people,

and give them prosperity and peace.

₁₄Justice and right will make you strong.

You will be safe from oppression and terror.

₁₅Whoever attacks you

does it without my consent;

whoever fights against you will fall.

₁₆“I create the blacksmith,

who builds a fire and forges weapons.

I also create the soldier,

who uses the weapons to kill.

₁₇But no weapon will be able to hurt you;

you will have an answer for all who accuse you.

I will defend my servants

and give them victory.”

“Come, everyone who is thirsty —

here is water!

Come, you that have no money —

buy corn and eat!

Come! Buy wine and milk —

it will cost you nothing!

₂Why spend money on what does not satisfy?

Why spend your wages and still be hungry?

Listen to me and do what I say,

and you will enjoy the best food of all.

₃“Listen now, my people, and come to me;

come to me, and you will have life!

I will make a lasting covenant with you

and give you the blessings I promised to David.

₄I made him a leader and commander of nations,

and through him I showed them my power.

₅Now you will summon foreign nations;

at one time they did not know you,

but now they will come running to join you!

I, the LORD your God, the holy God of Israel,

will make all this happen;

I will give you honour and glory.”

₆Turn to the LORD and pray to him,

now that he is near.

₇Let the wicked leave their way of life

and change their way of thinking.

Let them turn to the LORD, our God;

he is merciful and quick to forgive.

₈“My thoughts,” says the LORD, “are not like yours,

and my ways are different from yours.

₉As high as the heavens are above the earth,

so high are my ways and thoughts above yours.

₁₀“My word is like the snow and the rain

that come down from the sky to water the earth.

They make the crops grow

and provide seed for sowing and food to eat.

₁₁So also will be the word that I speak —

it will not fail to do what I plan for it;

it will do everything I send it to do.

₁₂“You will leave Babylon with joy;

you will be led out of the city in peace.

The mountains and hills will burst into singing,

and the trees will shout for joy.

₁₃Cypress trees will grow where now there are briars;

myrtle trees will come up in place of thorns.

This will be a sign that will last for ever,

a reminder of what I, the LORD, have done.”