Isaiah 49:17–23

¹⁷“Your ¹builders hurry;

Your ^adestroyers and devastators

Will depart from you.

¹⁸“^aLift up your eyes and look around;

^bAll of them gather together, ^cthey come to you.

^dAs I live,” declares the Lord,

“You will surely ^eput on all of them as ¹jewels and bind them on as a bride.

¹⁹“For ^ayour waste and desolate places and your destroyed land—

Surely now you will be ^btoo cramped for the inhabitants,

And those who ^cswallowed you will be far away.

²⁰“The ^achildren of ¹whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears,

‘The place is too cramped for me;

Make room for me that I may live here.’

²¹“Then you will ^asay in your heart,

‘Who has begotten these for me,

Since I have been bereaved of my children

And am ^bbarren, an ^cexile and a wanderer?

And who has reared these?

Behold, I was ^dleft alone;

^1eFrom where did these come?’ ”

²²Thus says the Lord ¹God,

“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations

And set up My ^astandard to the peoples;

And they will ^bbring your sons in their bosom,

And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

²³“^aKings will be your guardians,

And their princesses your nurses.

They will ^bbow down to you with their faces to the earth

And ^click the dust of your feet;

And you will ^dknow that I am the Lord;

Those who hopefully ^ewait for Me will ^fnot be put to shame.