Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 142
130
IMMERSE
•
PROPHETS
But now, like a woman in labor,
I will cry and groan and pant.
I will level the mountains and hills
and blight all their greenery.
I will turn the rivers into dry land
and will dry up all the pools.
I will lead blind Israel down a new path,
guiding them along an unfamiliar way.
I will brighten the darkness before them
and smooth out the road ahead of them.
Yes, I will indeed do these things;
I will not forsake them.
But those who trust in idols,
who say, ‘You are our gods,’
will be turned away in shame.
“Listen, you who are deaf!
Look and see, you blind!
Who is as blind as my own people, my servant?
Who is as deaf as my messenger?
Who is as blind as my chosen people,
the servant of the Lord?
You see and recognize what is right
but refuse to act on it.
You hear with your ears,
but you don’t really listen.”
Because he is righteous,
the Lord has exalted his glorious law.
But his own people have been robbed and plundered,
enslaved, imprisoned, and trapped.
They are fair game for anyone
and have no one to protect them,
no one to take them back home.
Who will hear these lessons from the past
and see the ruin that awaits you in the future?
Who allowed Israel to be robbed and hurt?
It was the Lord, against whom we sinned,
for the people would not walk in his path,
nor would they obey his law.
Therefore, he poured out his fury on them
and destroyed them in battle.
42:15-25
