18 Yet the Lord longsj to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.k

For the Lord is a God of justice.l

Blessed are all who wait for him!m

19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.n How gracious he will be when you cry for help!o As soon as he hears, he will answerp you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the breadq of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachersr will be hiddens no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voicet behind you, saying, “This is the way;u walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idolsv overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold;w you will throw them away like a menstrualx cloth and say to them, “Away with you!y”

23 He will also send you rainz for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be richa and plentiful.b In that dayc your cattle will graze in broad meadows.d 24 The oxene and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodderf and mash, spread out with forkg and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter,h when the towersi fall, streams of water will flowj on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun,k and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and healsl the wounds he inflicted.