Hope for Zion

Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness.
look unto the rock from whence ye are hewn,
and to the hole of the pit from whence ye are digged.

Look unto Abraham, your father,
and unto Sarah, she that bare you;
for I called him alone, and blessed him.

For the Lord shall comfort Zion,
he will comfort all her waste places;
and he will make her wilderness like Eden,
and her desert like the garden of the Lord.

Joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

Hearken unto me, my people;
and give ear unto me, O my nation;
for a law shall proceed from me,
and I will make my judgment
to rest for a light for the people.

My righteousness is near;
my salvation is gone forth,
and mine arm shall judge the people.
The isles shall wait upon me,
and on mine arm shall they trust.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look upon the earth beneath;
for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke,
and the earth shall wax old like a garment;
and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner.

But my salvation shall be forever,
and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness,
the people in whose heart I have written my law,
fear ye not the reproach of men,
neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

For the moth shall eat them up like a garment,
and the worm shall eat them like wool.

But my righteousness shall be forever,
and my salvation from generation to generation.

Awake, awake! Put on strength,
O arm of the Lord;
awake as in the ancient days.

Art thou not he that hath cut Rahab,
and wounded the dragon?

Art thou not he who hath dried the sea,
the waters of the great deep;
that hath made the depths of the sea
a way for the ransomed to pass over?

Therefore, the redeemed of the Lord shall return,
and come with singing unto Zion;
and everlasting joy and holiness
shall be upon their heads;
and they shall obtain gladness and joy;
sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

I am he; yea, I am he that comforteth you.

Behold, who art thou,
that thou shouldst be afraid of man,
who shall die,
and of the son of man,
who shall be made like unto grass?

And forgettest the Lord thy maker,
that hath stretched forth the heavens,
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and hast feared continually every day,
because of the fury of the oppressor,
as if he were ready to destroy?

And where is the fury of the oppressor?
The captive exile hasteneth,
that he may be loosed,
and that he should not die in the pit,
nor that his bread should fail.

But I am the Lord thy God, whose waves roared;
the Lord of Hosts is my name.

And I have put my words in thy mouth,
and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand,
that I may plant the heavens
and lay the foundations of the earth,
and say unto Zion: “Behold, thou art my people.”