Listen to these words of comfort, this blessing, this call from God through Isaiah; let it surround you like a refreshing wave of baptismal water and embolden your living:
You are mine, my child whom I uphold;
you are my chosen, in whom my soul delights.
I have put my spirit on you,
to use you in drawing out justice for all people,
to walk gently on the earth and to speak the truth in love
until justice wells up like a clear spring amidst a dry desert.
Listen closely to the LORD God,
who created the heavens and stretched out the galaxies,
who molded the earth and planted all life within it,
who put breath and spirit into all people;
listen to these words and let them seep into you:
I am the LORD, and I have called you in all my wisdom;
I have taken you by the hand and kept you,
and surely I will continue to be with you
as I make you a symbol of my presence with all people,
as I make you a light to the nations,
an agent of healing and
an agent of grace and
an activist for covenantal love
from the prisons
to the hospitals
to the streets,
in every nation.
I alone am the LORD. Witness and live:
the former things have passed, and new things I now declare.
Hi Rachel,
When you used this in the service this morning, I wondered what translation/paraphase it is?
God bless,
Jeff
Jeff,
Starting with the New Revised Standard Version, I adapted the passage using “New Revised Rachel Version.” 🙂
Blessings.