Prepping a Haftarah

This invitation came by email, linked to another email discussion.  I accepted on the spot, not having seen the text but aware that I can sight-read most, if not all of them.  Then I looked at the complex Isaiah text.  I cannot sight-read all, including this one.  Unfamiliar grammar, some unfamiliar vocabulary, phrasing that is not straightforward, perhaps a little more than average length.  Definitely the most technically difficult of the Seven Haftarot of Consolation.

This one needs practice.  Online texts available from Chabad and Sefaria.  Took out an old Chumash but my eyesight no longer acute enough for the faded compressed font and ultrathin musical markings.  Artscroll Tikkun easy to read but bulky.  I could copy it.  But for now Chabad online text allows me to sound out the words and Sefaria text can be enlarged for easier reading.  

At two days effort I am probably at threshold of performance.  Our congregation functions by good enough thresholds, that relentless pursuit of mediocrity.  But even if only a few of us appreciated the difficulty of this particular prophetic selection, I need to do it as well as my skill allows, which requires a little more practice before next shabbos.