Daily Bread

²⁷ “Do not be afraid,^(A) Jacob^(B) my servant;^(C)
    do not be dismayed, Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
    your descendants from the land of their exile.^(D)
Jacob will again have peace and security,
    and no one will make him afraid.
²⁸ Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant,
    for I am with you,”^(E) declares the Lord.
“Though I completely destroy^(F) all the nations
    among which I scatter you,
    I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
    I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”

“See how the waters are rising in the north;^(I)
    they will become an overflowing torrent.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
    the towns and those who live in them.
The people will cry out;
    all who dwell in the land will wail^(J)
3 at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,
    at the noise of enemy chariots^(K)
    and the rumble of their wheels.
Parents will not turn to help their children;
    their hands will hang limp.^(L)
4 For the day has come
    to destroy all the Philistines
and to remove all survivors
    who could help Tyre^(M) and Sidon.^(N)
The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,^(O)
    the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.^[a](P)
5 Gaza will shave^(Q) her head in mourning;
    Ashkelon^(R) will be silenced.
You remnant on the plain,
    how long will you cut^(S) yourselves?

⁶ “‘Alas, sword^(T) of the Lord,
    how long till you rest?
Return to your sheath;
    cease and be still.’^(U)
7 But how can it rest
    when the Lord has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
    to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”^(V)