4. “My people, listen to me;my nation, pay attention to me.I will give the people my teachings,and my decisions will be like a light to all people.
5. I will soon show that I do what is right.I will soon save you.I will use my power and judge all nations.All the faraway places are waiting for me;they wait for my power to help them.
6. Look up to the heavens.Look around you at the earth below.The skies will disappear like clouds of smoke.The earth will become useless like old clothes,and its people will die like flies.But my salvation will continue forever,and my goodness will never end.
7. “You people who know what is right should listen to me;you people who follow my teachings should hear what I say.Don’t be afraid of the evil things people say,and don’t be upset by their insults.
8. Moths will eat those people as if they were clothes,and worms will eat them as if they were wool.But my goodness will continue forever,and my salvation will continue from now on.”
9. Wake up, wake up, and use your strength,powerful Lord.Wake up as you did in the old times,as you did a long time ago.With your own power, you cut Rahab into piecesand killed that sea monster.
10. You dried up the seaand the waters of the deep ocean.You made the deepest parts of the sea into a roadfor your people to cross over and be saved.
11. The people the Lord has freed will returnand enter Jerusalem with joy.Their happiness will last forever.They will have joy and gladness,and all sadness and sorrow will be gone far away.
12. The Lord says, “I am the one who comforts you.So why should you be afraid of people, who die?Why should you fear people who die like the grass?
13. Have you forgotten the Lord who made you,who stretched out the skiesand made the earth?Why are you always afraidof those angry people who trouble youand who want to destroy?But where are those angry people now?
14. People in prison will soon be set free;they will not die in prison,and they will have enough food.
15. I am the Lord your God,who stirs the sea and makes the waves roar.My name is the Lord All-Powerful.
16. I will give you the words I want you to say.I will cover you with my hands and protect you.I made the heavens and the earth,and I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people.’ ”