Yahweh chose Israel

8 Yahweh says, “You people of Israel are like my servants;

you are descendants of Jacob, whom I chose;

you are descendants of Abraham, who I said is my friend.

9 I summoned you from very distant places [DOU] on the earth,

and I said ‘I want you to serve me;

I have chosen you,

and I will not reject you.’

10 Do not be afraid,

because I will ◄be with/help► you.

Do not be discouraged, because I am your God.

I will enable you to be strong, and I will help you;

I will hold you up with my powerful arm by which you will be rescued.

11 It is certain that all those who are angry with you Israeli people will be disgraced [DOU].

Those who oppose you will be wiped out;

they will all die.

12 If you search for those who tried to conquer you,

you will not find them,

because they will all have disappeared.

Those who attacked you

will not exist any more.

13 It will be as though I will hold you up by your right hand.

I am Yahweh, your God,

and I say to you, ‘Do not be afraid,

because I will help you.’

14 Although you people of Israel [DOU] think that you are as insignificant as worms,

do not be afraid of your enemies,

because I will help you.

I am Yahweh, the one who rescues you;

I am the Holy One of Israel.

15 I will cause you to be like [MET] a ◄threshing sledge/big piece of metal that has sharp teeth for separating grain from chaff►.

You will tear your enemies to bits,

causing them to be like bits of chaff on the mountains.

16 You will toss them up into the air,

and a strong wind will blow them away [DOU].

When that happens, you will rejoice about what I have done for you;

you will praise me, the Holy One of Israel.

17 When poor and needy people need water and they have no water,

and their tongues are very dry because they are very thirsty,

I, Yahweh, will come and help them.

I, the God to whom you Israeli people belong, will never abandon them.

18 I will cause rivers to flow for them on the barren hills.

I will give them fountains in the valleys.

I will fill [HYP] the desert with pools of water.

Water from springs will flow into rivers,

and the rivers will flow across the dry ground.

19 I will plant trees in the desert—

cedar trees, acacia trees, myrtle trees, olive trees, cypress trees, fir trees, and pine trees.

20 I will do that in order that people who see it will think about it, and they will know and understand [DOU]

that it is I, Yahweh, who have done it;

it is what I, the Holy One of Israel, have done.