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| 1 Hearken unto Me, ye pursuing righteousness, Seeking Jehovah, Look attentively unto the rock ye have been hewn, And unto the hole of the pit ye have been digged. |
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| 2 Look attentively unto Abraham your father, And unto Sarah she bringeth you forth, For one I have called him, And I bless him, and multiply him. |
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| 3 For Jehovah hath comforted Zion, He hath comforted all her wastes, And He setteth her wilderness as Eden, And her desert as a garden of Jehovah, Joy, yea, gladness is found in her, Confession, and the voice of song. |
Her wilderness – The true Church is the Church in the wilderness. R1841:6
Her desert – Applied to the renewed fruitfulness of Palestine. R1044:1, R1379:6
Garden of the LORD – No longer will thorns and thistles cause sweat of face, but the earth shall yield her increase. R5078:4
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| 4 Attend unto Me, O My people, And, O My nation, unto Me give ear. For a law from Me goeth out, And My judgment to the light, Peoples I do cause to rest. |
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| 5 Near [is] My righteousness, Gone out hath My salvation and Mine arms, Peoples they judge, on Me isles do wait, Yea, on Mine arm they do wait with hope. |
On mine arm – The Lord Jesus. E47
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| 6 Lift ye up to the heavens your eyes, And look attentively unto the earth beneath, For the heavens as smoke have vanished, And the earth as a garment weareth out, And its inhabitants as gnats do die, And My salvation is to the age, And My righteousness is not broken. |
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| 7 Hearken unto Me, ye who know righteousness, A people, in whose heart [is] My law, Fear ye not the reproach of men, And for their reviling be not affrighted, |
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| 8 For as a garment eat them doth a moth, And as wool eat them doth a worm, And My righteousness is to the age, And My salvation to all generations. |
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| 9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah, Awake, as [in] days of old, generations of the ages, Art not Thou it that is hewing down Rahab, Piercing a dragon! |
Arm of the LORD – Christ Jesus. E47
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| 10 Art not Thou it that is drying up a sea, Waters of a great deep That hath made deep places of a sea A way for the passing of the redeemed |
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| 11 And the ransomed of Jehovah turn back, And they have come to Zion with singing, And joy age-during [is] on their head, Gladness and joy they attain, Fled away have sorrow and sighing, |
Redeemed of the LORD – All who will accept the gift of life upon the conditions of its offer. R1772:6
Mourning shall flee – There will be no more sin, sorrow, pain, sighing, crying or dying. R5250:5
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| 12 I I [am] He your comforter, Who [art] thou and thou art afraid of man he dieth! And of the son of man grass he is made! |
Afraid of a man – "The fear of men which bringeth a snare." (Prov. 29:25) R1788:5
Rather be fearful of anything that would separate you from God and a future life. R5390:3
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| 13 And thou dost forget Jehovah thy maker, Who is stretching out the heavens, and founding earth, And thou dost fear continually all the day, Because of the fury of the oppressor, As he hath prepared to destroy. And where [is] the fury of the oppressor |
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| 14 Hastened hath a wanderer to be loosed, And he doth not die at the pit, And his bread is not lacking. |
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| 15 And I [am] Jehovah thy God, Quieting the sea, when its billows roar, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name. |
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| 16 And I put My words in thy mouth, And with the shadow of My hand have covered thee, To plant the heavens, and to found earth, And to say to Zion, 'My people [art] thou.' |
Plant the heavens – Establish the new heavens or powers of spiritual control. R1788:4; A318
Of the earth – The new earth, or social order. R1788:4; A318
Zion – The tried and proved, heirs of the New Kingdom. R1788:4
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| 17 Stir thyself, stir thyself, rise, Jerusalem, Who hast drunk from the hand of Jehovah The cup of His fury, The goblet, the cup of trembling, thou hast drunk, Thou hast wrung out. |
Drunken – Intoxication of error, false doctrines and theories. R4287:3
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| 18 There is not a leader to her Out of all the sons she hath borne, And there is none laying hold on her hand Out of all the sons she hath nourished. |
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| 19 These two are meeting thee, who is moved for thee Spoiling and destruction Famine and sword, who I comfort thee |
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| 20 Thy sons have been wrapt up, they have lain down, At the head of all out places, as a wild ox [in] a net, They are full of the fury of Jehovah, The rebuke of Thy God. |
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| 21 Therefore, hear, I pray thee, this, O afflicted and drunken one, and not with wine, |
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| 22 Thus said thy Lord Jehovah, and thy God, He pleadeth [for] his people: 'Lo, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling, The goblet, the cup of My fury, Thou dost not add to drink it any more. |
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| 23 And I have put it into the hand of those afflicting thee, Who have said to thy soul, Bow down, and we pass over, And thou makest as the earth thy body, And as the street to those passing by!' |
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