Repurposing Our Lives

⁸ But you, Israel my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, offspring of Abraham, whom I love, ⁹ you whom I took from the ends of the earth and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant; I chose you and didn’t reject you”: ¹⁰ Don’t fear, because I am with you; don’t be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will surely help you; I will hold you with my righteous strong hand. ¹¹ All who rage against you will be shamed and disgraced. Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish. ¹² You will look for your opponents, and won’t find them. Those who fight you will be of no account and will die. ¹³ I am the LORD your God, who grasps your strong hand, who says to you, Don’t fear; I will help you. ¹⁴ Don’t fear, worm of Jacob, people of Israel! I will help you, says the LORD. The holy one of Israel is your redeemer. ¹⁵ Look, I’ve made you into a new threshing tool with sharp teeth. You will thresh mountains and pulverize them; you will reduce hills to straw. ¹⁶ When you winnow them, the wind will carry them off; the tempest will scatter them. You will rejoice in the LORD and take pride in the holy one of Israel. ¹⁷ The poor and the needy seek water, and there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will respond to them; I, the God of Israel, won’t abandon them.