³ For the Lord will comfort Zion;
    he will comfort all her waste places
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
    her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
    thanksgiving and the voice of song.^(A)

¹⁵ The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
    he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
    you shall fear disaster no more.^(A)
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear, O Zion;
    do not let your hands grow weak.^(B)
17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
    a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will renew you^[a] in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing^(C)

²⁰ The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah^[a]
    shall possess^[b] Phoenicia as far as Zarephath,
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
    shall possess the towns of the Negeb.^(A)

¹³ As a mother comforts her child,
    so I will comfort you;
    you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.^(A)

²⁶ who confirms the word of his servant
    and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
    and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,
    and I will raise up their ruins”;^(A)