The Lord Remembers Zion

49:14 “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,

the sovereign master35 has forgotten me.’

49:15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast?36

Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne?37

Even if mothers38 were to forget,

I could never forget you!39

49:16 Look, I have inscribed your name40 on my palms;

your walls are constantly before me.

49:17 Your children hurry back,

while those who destroyed and devastated you depart.

49:18 Look all around you!41

All of them gather to you.

As surely as I live,” says the Lord,

“you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry;

you will put them on as if you were a bride.

49:19 Yes, your land lies in ruins;

it is desolate and devastated.42

But now you will be too small to hold your residents,

and those who devoured you will be far away.

49:20 Yet 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

49:21 Then 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?’ ”

49:22 This 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.

49:23 Kings 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.

49:24 Can spoils be taken from a warrior,

or captives be rescued from a conqueror?50

49:25 Indeed,” 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.

49:26 I 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

50:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate

by which I divorced her?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you?1

Look, you were sold because of your sins;2

because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother.3

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call?4

Is my hand too weak5 to deliver6 you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout7 I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water.8

50:3 I can clothe the sky in darkness;

I can cover it with sackcloth.”