Isaiah 52:1-3

"Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion!

Put on your beautiful garments,O Jerusalem, the holy city;

for the uncircumcised and the unclean shall enter you no more.

Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem;

loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter Zion!

For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money."

Comment:

The writer known as Second Isaiah was focused on restoring the kingdom of Israel by encouraging Hebrews to return after their long exile in Babylon. In Chapter 51, he describes the city's previous devastation at the hands of foreign nations. Now he is promising that things are about to change.

We, too, are individually devastated by outside forces as a consequence of our negative choices. Once awakened to the Truth, we make choices from Spirit and the consequences are dramatically different.