1. “But now, listen to me, Jacob my servant,Israel my chosen one.
2. The lord who made you and helps you says:Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant,O dear Israel, my chosen one.
3. For I will pour out water to quench your thirstand to irrigate your parched fields.And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants,and my blessing on your children.
4. They will thrive like watered grass,like willows on a riverbank.
5. Some will proudly claim, ‘I belong to the lord.’Others will say, ‘I am a descendant of Jacob.’Some will write the lord’s name on their handsand will take the name of Israel as their own.”
6. This is what the lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the lord of Heaven’s Armies: “I am the First and the Last;there is no other God.
7. Who is like me?Let him step forward and prove to you his power.Let him do as I have done since ancient timeswhen I established a people and explained its future.