The Berean Pursuit
Listen to Me, O islands;
pay attention, O distant peoples:
The LORD called Me from the womb;
from the body of My mother He named Me.
He made My mouth like a sharp sword;
He hid Me in the shadow of His hand.
He made Me like a polished arrow;
He hid Me in His quiver.
He said to Me, "You are My Servant, Israel,
in whom I will display My glory."
But I said, "I have labored in vain,
I have spent My strength in futility and vanity;
yet My vindication is with the LORD,
and My reward is with My God."
And now says the LORD,
who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
to bring Jacob back to Him,
that Israel might be gathered to Him-
for I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
and My God is My strength-
He says: "It is not enough for You to be My Servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and to restore the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make You a light for the nations,
to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth."
Thus says the LORD,
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel,
to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the Servant of rulers:
"Kings will see You and rise,
and princes will bow down,
because of the LORD, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You."
This is what the LORD says:
"In the time of favor I will answer You,
and in the day of salvation I will help You;
I will keep You and appoint You
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land,
to apportion its desolate inheritances,
to say to the prisoners, 'Come out,'
and to those in darkness, 'Show yourselves.'
They will feed along the pathways,
and find pasture on every barren hill.
They will not hunger or thirst,
nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them.
For He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
I will turn all My mountains into roads,
and My highways will be raised up.
Behold, they will come from far away,
from the north and from the west,
and from the land of Aswan."
Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth;
break forth in song, O mountains!
For the LORD has comforted His people,
and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me;
the Lord has forgotten me!"
"Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the son of her womb?
Even if she could forget,
I will not forget you!
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
your walls are ever before Me.
Your builders hasten back;
your destroyers and wreckers depart from you.
Lift up your eyes and look around.
They all gather together; they come to you.
As surely as I live," declares the LORD,
"you will wear them all as jewelry
and put them on like a bride.
For your ruined and desolate places
and your ravaged land
will now indeed be too small for your people,
and those who devoured you will be far away.
Yet the children of your bereavement
will say in your hearing,
'This place is too small for us;
make room for us to live here.'
Then you will say in your heart,
'Who has begotten these for me?
I was bereaved and barren;
I was exiled and rejected.
So who has reared them?
Look, I was left all alone,
so where did they come from?'?"
This is what the Lord GOD says:
"Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations,
and raise My banner to the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow to you facedown
and lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the LORD;
those who hope in Me will never be put to shame."
Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?
Indeed, this is what the LORD says:
"Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away,
and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine.
Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD,
am your Savior and your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Jacob."
This is what the LORD says:
"Where is your mother's certificate of divorce
with which I sent her away?
Or to which of My creditors
did I sell you?
Look, you were sold for your iniquities,
and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
Why was no one there when I arrived?
Why did no one answer when I called?
Is My hand too short to redeem you?
Or do I lack the strength to deliver you?
Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea;
I turn the rivers into a desert;
the fish rot for lack of water
and die of thirst.
I clothe the heavens in black
and make sackcloth their covering."
The Lord GOD has given Me
the tongue of discipleship,
to sustain the weary with a word.
He awakens Me morning by morning;
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
The Lord GOD has opened My ears,
and I have not been rebellious,
nor have I turned back.
I offered My back to those who struck Me,
and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard.
I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
Because the Lord GOD helps Me,
I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set My face like flint,
and I know that I will not be put to shame.
The One who vindicates Me is near.
Who will dare to contend with Me?
Let us confront each other!
Who has a case against Me?
Let him approach Me!
Surely the Lord GOD helps Me.
Who is there to condemn Me?
See, they will all wear out like a garment;
the moths will devour them.
Who among you fears the LORD
and obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who among you walks in darkness
and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the LORD;
let him lean on his God.
Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
who array yourselves with firebrands,
walk in the light of your fire
and of the firebrands you have lit!
This is what you will receive from My hand:
You will lie down in a place of torment.
"Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the LORD:
Look to the rock from which you were cut,
and to the quarry from which you were hewn.
Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah who gave you birth.
When I called him, he was but one;
then I blessed him and multiplied him.
For the LORD will comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
He will make her wilderness like Eden
and her desert like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and melodious song.
Pay attention to Me, My people,
and listen to Me, My nation;
for a law will go out from Me,
and My justice will become a light to the nations;
I will bring it about quickly.
My righteousness draws near,
My salvation is on the way,
and My arms will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look for Me
and wait in hope for My arm.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth below;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its people will die like gnats.
But My salvation will last forever,
and My righteousness will never fail.
Listen to Me, you who know what is right,
you people with My law in your hearts:
Do not fear the scorn of men;
do not be broken by their insults.
For the moth will devour them like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness will last forever,
My salvation through all generations."
Awake, awake,
put on strength, O arm of the LORD.
Wake up as in days past,
as in generations of old.
Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces,
who pierced through the dragon?
Was it not You who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made a road in the depths of the sea
for the redeemed to cross over?
So the redeemed of the LORD will return
and enter Zion with singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.
"I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Why should you be afraid of mortal man,
of a son of man who withers like grass?
But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.
You live in terror all day long
because of the fury of the oppressor
who is bent on destruction.
But where is the fury of the oppressor?
The captive will soon be freed;
he will not die in the dungeon,
and his bread will not be lacking.
For I am the LORD your God
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-
the LORD of Hosts is His name.
I have put My words in your mouth,
and covered you with the shadow of My hand,
to establish the heavens, to found the earth,
and to say to Zion, 'You are My people.'?"
Awake, awake!
Rise up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD
the cup of His fury;
you who have drained the goblet to the dregs-
the cup that makes men stagger.
Among all the sons she bore,
there is no one to guide her;
among all the sons she brought up,
there is no one to take her hand.
These pairs have befallen you:
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword.
Who will grieve for you?
Who can comfort you?
Your sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street,
like an antelope in a net.
They are full of the wrath of the LORD,
the rebuke of your God.
Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one,
drunken, but not with wine.
Thus says your Lord, the LORD,
even your God, who defends His people:
"See, I have removed from your hand
the cup of staggering.
From that goblet, the cup of My fury,
you will never drink again.
I will place it in the hands of your tormentors,
who told you: 'Lie down, so we can walk over you,'
so that you made your back like the ground,
like a street to be traversed."
Awake, awake,
clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!
Put on your garments of splendor,
O Jerusalem, holy city!
For the uncircumcised and unclean
will no longer enter you.
Shake off your dust!
Rise up and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem.
Remove the chains from your neck,
O captive Daughter of Zion.
For this is what the LORD says:
"You were sold for nothing,
and without money you will be redeemed."
For this is what the Lord GOD says:
"At first My people went down to Egypt to live,
then Assyria oppressed them without cause.
And now what have I here?
declares the LORD.
For My people have been taken without cause;
those who rule them taunt,
declares the LORD,
and My name is blasphemed continually
all day long.
Therefore My people will know My name;
therefore they will know on that day
that I am He who speaks.
Here I am!"
How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
together they shout for joy.
For every eye will see
when the LORD returns to Zion.
Break forth in joy, sing together,
O ruins of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted His people;
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The LORD has bared His holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;
all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
Depart, depart, go out from there!
Touch no unclean thing;
come out from it, purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of the LORD.
For you will not leave in a hurry
nor flee in haste,
for the LORD goes before you,
and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
Behold, My Servant will prosper;
He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Just as many were appalled at Him-
His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man,
and His form was marred beyond human likeness-
so He will sprinkle many nations.
Kings will shut their mouths because of Him.
For they will see what they have not been told,
and they will understand what they have not heard.
For the choirmaster. To the tune of "Lilies." Of David.
Save me, O God,
for the waters are up to my neck.
I have sunk into the miry depths,
where there is no footing;
I have drifted into deep waters,
where the flood engulfs me.
I am weary from my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
looking for my God.
Those who hate me without cause
outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are those who would destroy me-
my enemies for no reason.
Though I did not steal,
I must repay.
You know my folly, O God,
and my guilt is not hidden from You.
May those who hope in You not be ashamed through me,
O Lord GOD of Hosts;
may those who seek You not be dishonored through me,
O God of Israel.
For I have endured scorn for Your sake,
and shame has covered my face.
I have become a stranger to my brothers
and a foreigner to my mother's sons,
because zeal for Your house has consumed me,
and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.
I wept and fasted,
but it brought me reproach.
I made sackcloth my clothing,
and I was sport to them.
Those who sit at the gate mock me,
and I am the song of drunkards.
But my prayer to You, O LORD,
is for a time of favor.
In Your abundant loving devotion, O God,
answer me with Your sure salvation.
Rescue me from the mire
and do not let me sink;
deliver me from my foes
and out of the deep waters.
Do not let the floods engulf me
or the depths swallow me up;
let not the Pit close its mouth over me.
Answer me, O LORD,
for Your loving devotion is good;
turn to me in keeping with Your great compassion.
Hide not Your face from Your servant,
for I am in distress.
Answer me quickly!
Draw near to my soul and redeem me;
ransom me because of my foes.
You know my reproach, my shame and disgrace.
All my adversaries are before You.
Insults have broken my heart,
and I am in despair.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but I found no one.
They poisoned my food with gall
and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
May their table become a snare;
may it be a retribution and a trap.
May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.
Pour out Your wrath upon them,
and let Your burning anger overtake them.
May their place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
For they persecute the one You struck
and recount the pain of those You wounded.
Add iniquity to their iniquity;
let them not share in Your righteousness.
May they be blotted out of the Book of Life
and not listed with the righteous.
But I am in pain and distress;
let Your salvation protect me, O God.
I will praise God's name in song
and exalt Him with thanksgiving.
And this will please the LORD more than an ox,
more than a bull with horns and hooves.
The humble will see and rejoice.
You who seek God, let your hearts be revived!
For the LORD listens to the needy
and does not despise His captive people.
Let heaven and earth praise Him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah,
that they may dwell there and possess it.
The descendants of His servants will inherit it,
and those who love His name will settle in it.