¹⁵ “Although you have been forsaken^(A) and hated,
    with no one traveling^(B) through,
I will make you the everlasting pride^(C)
    and the joy^(D) of all generations.

⁷ Instead of your shame^(A)
    you will receive a double^(B) portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit^(C) a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy^(D) will be yours.

¹⁷ But I will restore you to health
    and heal^(A) your wounds,’
declares the Lord,
‘because you are called an outcast,^(B)
    Zion for whom no one cares.’^(C)

¹⁴ But Zion^(A) said, “The Lord has forsaken^(B) me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵ “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child^(C) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!^(D)
16 See, I have engraved^(E) you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls^(F) are ever before me.
¹⁷ Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste^(G) depart from you.
¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather^(H) and come to you.
As surely as I live,^(I)” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear^(J) them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

¹⁹ “Though you were ruined and made desolate^(K)
    and your land laid waste,^(L)
now you will be too small for your people,^(M)
    and those who devoured^(N) you will be far away.
²⁰ The children born during your bereavement
    will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
    give us more space to live in.’^(O)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?^(P)
I was bereaved^(Q) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.^(R)
    Who brought these^(S) up?
I was left^(T) all alone,^(U)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner^(W) to the peoples;
they will bring^(X) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.^(Y)
23 Kings^(Z) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.^(AA)
They will bow down^(AB) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust^(AC) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;^(AD)
    those who hope^(AE) in me will not be disappointed.^(AF)”