Isaiah 49:20–26

^49:20Yet the children born during your time of bereavement

will say within your hearing,

‘This place is too cramped for us,⁴³

make room for us so we can live here.’⁴⁴

^49:21Then you will think to yourself,⁴⁵

‘Who bore these children for me?

I was bereaved and barren,

dismissed and divorced.⁴⁶

Who raised these children?

Look, I was left all alone;

where did these children come from?’ ”

^49:22This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;

I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

^49:23Kings will be your children’s⁴⁷ guardians;

their princesses will nurse your children.⁴⁸

With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you

and they will lick the dirt on⁴⁹ your feet.

Then you will recognize that I am the Lord;

those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.

^49:24Can spoils be taken from a warrior,

or captives be rescued from a conqueror?⁵⁰

^49:25Indeed,” says the Lord,

“captives will be taken from a warrior;

spoils will be rescued from a conqueror.

I will oppose your adversary

and I will rescue your children.

^49:26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;

they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine.⁵¹

Then all humankind⁵² will recognize that

I am the Lord, your deliverer,

your protector,⁵³ the powerful ruler of Jacob.”⁵⁴