Isaiah 49:8–13

Promises of Israel’s Restoration

⁸This is what the Lord says:

“At just the right time, I will respond to you.

On the day of salvation I will help you.

I will protect you and give you to the people

as my covenant with them.

Through you I will reestablish the land of Israel

and assign it to its own people again.

⁹I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’

and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’

They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures

and on hills that were previously bare.

¹⁰They will neither hunger nor thirst.

The searing sun will not reach them anymore.

For the Lord in his mercy will lead them;

he will lead them beside cool waters.

¹¹And I will make my mountains into level paths for them.

The highways will be raised above the valleys.

¹²See, my people will return from far away,

from lands to the north and west,

and from as far south as Egypt.”

¹³Sing for joy, O heavens!

Rejoice, O earth!

Burst into song, O mountains!

For the Lord has comforted his people

and will have compassion on them in their suffering.