Isaiah 30:18–22

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.

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. 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. 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. 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!”

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.

For the Lord is a God of justice.

Blessed are all who wait for him!

People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”

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.

For people will live on Zion in Jerusalem. You will never weep again; he will show favor to you at the sound of your outcry; as soon as he hears, he will answer you. The Lord will give you meager bread and water during oppression, but your Teacher will not hide any longer. Your eyes will see your Teacher, 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.” 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!”

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.