18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,

and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

blessed are all those who wait for him.

19 For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”

18 And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, And therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: For the Lord is a God of judgment: Blessed are all they that wait for him. 19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: Thou shalt weep no more: He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; When he shall hear it, he will answer thee. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, Yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, But thine eyes shall see thy teachers: 21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, When ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. 22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, And the ornament of thy molten images of gold: Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; Thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.

18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him

so he can show you his love and compassion.

For the Lord is a faithful God.

Blessed are those who wait for his help.

19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,

you will weep no more.

He will be gracious if you ask for help.

He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.

20 Though the Lord gave you adversity for food

and suffering for drink,

he will still be with you to teach you.

You will see your teacher with your own eyes.

21 Your own ears will hear him.

Right behind you a voice will say,

“This is the way you should go,”

whether to the right or to the left.

22 Then you will destroy all your silver idols

and your precious gold images.

You will throw them out like filthy rags,

saying to them, “Good riddance!”

18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;

And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;

You shall weep no more.

He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;

When He hears it, He will answer you.

20 And though the Lord gives you

The bread of adversity and the water of affliction,

Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,

But your eyes shall see your teachers.

21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,

“This is the way, walk in it,”

Whenever you turn to the right hand

Or whenever you turn to the left.

22 You will also defile the covering of your images of silver,

And the ornament of your molded images of gold.

You will throw them away as an unclean thing;

You will say to them, “Get away!”

18 The Lord wants to show his mercy to you.

He wants to rise and comfort you.

The Lord is a fair God,

and everyone who waits for his help will be happy.

19 You people who live on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will not cry anymore. The Lord will hear your crying, and he will comfort you. When he hears you, he will help you. 20 The Lord has given you sorrow and hurt like the bread and water you ate every day. He is your teacher; he will not continue to hide from you, but you will see your teacher with your own eyes. 21 If you go the wrong way—to the right or to the left—you will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the right way. You should go this way.” 22 You have statues covered with silver and gold, but you will ruin them for further use. You will throw them away like filthy rags and say, “Go away!”

18 And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him. 19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; he will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear, he will answer thee. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be hidden anymore, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers; 21 and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. 22 And ye shall defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver, and the plating of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as an unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.

18 And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he lift himself up, that he may have mercy upon you; for Jehovah is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. 19 For the people shall dwell in Zion, at Jerusalem. Thou shalt weep no more; he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; as he heareth it, he will answer thee. 20 And the Lord will give you the bread of adversity, and the water of oppression; yet thy teachers shall not be hidden any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers. 21 And when ye turn to the right hand or when ye turn to the left, thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. 22 And ye shall defile the silver covering of your graven images, and the gold overlaying of your molten images; thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth: Out! shalt thou say unto it.

18 The Lord is waiting to be kind to you. 

He rises to have compassion on you. 

The Lord is a God of justice. 

Blessed are all those who wait for him. 

19 You will live in Zion, in Jerusalem. You won’t cry anymore. The Lord will certainly have pity on you when you cry for help. As soon as he hears you, he will answer you. 20 The Lord may give you troubles and hardships. But your teacher will no longer be hidden from you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. 21 You will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way. Follow it, whether it turns to the right or to the left.” 22 Then you will dishonor your silver-plated idols and your gold-covered statues. You will throw them away like clothing ruined by stains. You will say to them, “Get out!” 

18 Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy,

and is rising up to show you compassion,

for the Lord is a just God.

All who wait patiently for Him are happy.

19 For you people will live on Zion in Jerusalem and will never cry again. He will show favor to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears, He will answer you. 20 The Lord will give you meager bread and water during oppression, but your Teacher will not hide Himself any longer. Your eyes will see your Teacher, 21 and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.” 22 Then you will defile your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, and call them filth.

18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

blessed are all those who wait for him.

19 Truly, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you. 20 Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will defile your silver-covered idols and your gold-plated images. You will scatter them like filthy rags; you will say to them, “Away with you!”

18 Therefore Yahweh waits to be gracious to you,

and therefore he will rise up to show you mercy,

for Yahweh is a God of justice;

blessed are all those who wait for him.

19 For people will live in Zion;

in Jerusalem, you will surely not weep.

Surely he will be gracious to you;

when he hears the sound of your cry, he will answer you.

20 And the Lord will give you the bread of distress

and the water of oppression,

but your teachers will not hide themselves any longer.

And your eyes shall see your teachers.

21 And your ears shall hear a word from behind you, saying,

“this is the way; walk in it,”

when you go to your right

and when you go to your left.

22 And you will defile the plating of your silver idols

and the covering of your gold image.

You will scatter them like contaminated things;

you will say to it, “Filth!”

18 But the Lord longs to show you his favor.

He wants to give you his tender love.

The Lord is a God who is always fair.

Blessed are all those who wait for him to act!

19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you won’t sob anymore. When you cry out to the Lord for help, he will show you his favor. As soon as he hears you, he’ll answer you. 20 He might treat you like prisoners. You might eat the bread of trouble. You might drink the water of suffering. But he will be your Teacher. He won’t hide himself anymore. You will see him with your own eyes. 21 You will hear your Teacher’s voice behind you. You will hear it whether you turn to the right or the left. It will say, “Here is the path I want you to take. So walk on it.”

22 Then you will get rid of the silver statues of your gods. You won’t have anything to do with the gold statues either. All of them are “unclean.” So you will throw them away like dirty rags. You will say to them, “Get away from us!”

18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you,

And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

How blessed are all those who long for Him.

19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.

20 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.

21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

22 And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!”