Wells in the Desert

¹⁵ I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    Israel’s Creator and King.
¹⁶ I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,
    making a dry path through the sea.
¹⁷ I called forth the mighty army of Egypt
    with all its chariots and horses.
I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,
    their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

¹⁸ “But forget all that—
    it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
¹⁹ For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
²⁰ The wild animals in the fields will thank me,
    the jackals and owls, too,
    for giving them water in the desert.
Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland
    so my chosen people can be refreshed.
²¹ I have made Israel for myself,
    and they will someday honour me before the whole world.