For I will pour water on the parched ground ¹  and cause streams to flow ²  on the dry land. I will pour my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your children.

This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says, their protector, ¹  the Lord who commands armies: “I am the first and I am the last, there is no God but me.

This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹  says, the one who formed you in the womb: “I am the Lord, who made everything, who alone stretched out the sky, who fashioned the earth all by myself, ² 

This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹  says, the Holy One of Israel: ²  “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who leads you in the way you should go.

He sprouted up like a twig before God, ¹  like a root out of parched soil; ²  he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, ³  no special appearance that we should want to follow him. ⁴ 

For your husband is the one who made you – the Lord who commands armies is his name. He is your protector, ¹  the Holy One of Israel. ²  He is called “God of the entire earth.”

¹ The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.

Look, your fasting is accompanied by ¹  arguments, brawls, and fistfights. ²  Do not fast as you do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven.

No one is concerned about justice; ¹  no one sets forth his case truthfully. They depend on false words ²  and tell lies; they conceive of oppression ³  and give birth to sin.

For this reason deliverance ¹  is far from us ²  and salvation does not reach us. We wait for light, ³  but see only darkness; ⁴  we wait for ⁵  a bright light, ⁶  but live ⁷  in deep darkness. ⁸ 

Honesty has disappeared; the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed. The Lord watches and is displeased, ¹  for there is no justice.

He sees there is no advocate; ¹  he is shocked ²  that no one intervenes. So he takes matters into his own hands; ³  his desire for justice drives him on. ⁴ 

You will drink the milk of nations; you will nurse at the breasts of kings. ¹  Then you will recognize that I, the Lord, am your deliverer, your protector, ²  the powerful ruler of Jacob. ³ 

Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. ¹  The messenger sent from his very presence ²  delivered them. In his love and mercy he protected ³  them; he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. ⁴ 

For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, Lord, are our father; you have been called our protector from ancient times. ¹ 

Why, Lord, do you make us stray ¹  from your ways, ²  and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? ³  Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance!

(64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood, or fire makes water boil, let your adversaries know who you are, ¹  and may the nations shake at your presence!

So this is what the sovereign Lord says: “Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry! Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty! Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!

A wolf and a lamb will graze together; ¹  a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, ²  and a snake’s food will be dirt. ³  They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain,” ⁴  says the Lord.

you say, ‘I have not done anything wrong, so the Lord cannot really be angry with me any more.’ But, watch out! ¹  I will bring down judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not committed any sin.’