Isaiah 49:8–21

⁸Thus says the Lord:

“In an ^macceptable ⁷time I have heard You,

And in the day of salvation I have helped You;

I will ⁸preserve You ⁿand give You

As a covenant to the people,

To restore the earth,

To cause them to inherit the desolate ⁹heritages;

⁹That You may say ^oto the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’

To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

“They shall feed along the roads,

And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.

¹⁰They shall neither ^phunger nor thirst,

^qNeither heat nor sun shall strike them;

For He who has mercy on them ^rwill lead them,

Even by the springs of water He will guide them.

^11sI will make each of My mountains a road,

And My highways shall be elevated.

¹²Surely ^tthese shall come from afar;

Look! Those from the north and the west,

And these from the land of Sinim.”

^13uSing, O heavens!

Be joyful, O earth!

And break out in singing, O mountains!

For the Lord has comforted His people,

And will have mercy on His afflicted.

God Will Remember Zion

^14vBut Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,

And my Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵“Can ^wa woman forget her nursing child,

¹And not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Surely they may forget,

^xYet I will not forget you.

¹⁶See, ^yI have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

Your walls are continually before Me.

¹⁷Your ²sons shall make haste;

Your destroyers and those who laid you waste

Shall go away from you.

^18zLift up your eyes, look around and see;

All these gather together and come to you.

As I live,” says the Lord,

“You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all ^aas an ornament,

And bind them on you as a bride does.

¹⁹“For your waste and desolate places,

And the land of your destruction,

^bWill even now be too small for the inhabitants;

And those who swallowed you up will be far away.

^20cThe children you will have,

^dAfter you have lost the others,

Will say again in your ears,

‘The place is too small for me;

Give me a place where I may dwell.’

²¹Then you will say in your heart,

‘Who has begotten these for me,

Since I have lost my children and am desolate,

A captive, and wandering to and fro?

And who has brought these up?

There I was, left alone;

But these, where were they?’ ”