Isaiah 49:8–21

⁸Thus saith the Lord,

^zIn an acceptable time have I heard thee,

And in a day of salvation have I helped thee:

And I will preserve thee, and ^agive thee for a covenant of the people,

To ^||establish the earth, ^aato cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

⁹That thou mayest say ^bcto the prisoners, Go forth;

^bTo them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves.

They shall feed in the ways,

And their pastures shall be in all high places.

^10dThey shall not hunger nor thirst;

^eNeither shall ^fthe heat nor sun smite them:

For he that hath mercy on them ^gshall lead them,

Even by ^hthe springs of water ^gshall he guide them.

¹¹And ⁱI will make all my mountains a way,

And my highways shall be exalted.

¹²Behold, ^kthese shall come from far:

And, lo, these ^lfrom the north and ^lfrom the west;

And these from the land of Sinim.

^13mSing, O heavens; and ⁿbe joyful, O earth;

And ^mbreak forth into singing, ^oO mountains:

For the Lord hath comforted his people,

And will have mercy upon his afflicted.

^14pBut Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me,

And my Lord hath forgotten me.

¹⁵Can a woman forget her sucking child,

^†That she should not have compassion on ^qthe son of her womb?

Yea, ^rthey may forget,

^sYet will I not forget thee.

¹⁶Behold, ^tI have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;

Thy walls are continually before me.

¹⁷Thy children shall make haste;

^uThy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

^18vLift up thine eyes round about, and behold:

^vAll these gather themselves together, and come to thee.

^wAs I live, saith the Lord, ^xthou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament,

And ^xxbind them on thee, ^yas a bride doeth.

¹⁹For ^yythy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of ^uthy destruction,

^zShall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants,

And they that ^aswallowed thee up shall be far away.

^20bThe children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears,

The place is too strait for me:

^cGive place to me that I may dwell.

²¹Then shalt thou say in thine heart, ^dWho hath begotten me these,

Seeing I have lost my children, and ^eam desolate,

A captive, and removing to and fro?

And who hath brought up these?

Behold, I was left alone;

These, where had they been?