13 (A)Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.

God Will Remember Zion

14 (B)But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can(C) a woman forget her nursing child,
[a]And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
(D)Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, (E)I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your [b]sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18 (F)Lift up your eyes, look around and see;
All these gather together and come to you.
As I live,” says the Lord,
“You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all (G)as an ornament,
And bind them on you as a bride does.

19 “For your waste and desolate places,
And the land of your destruction,
(H)Will even now be too small for the inhabitants;
And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 (I)The children you will have,
(J)After you have lost the others,
Will say again in your ears,
‘The place is too small for me;
Give me a place where I may dwell.’

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:15 Lit. From having compassion
  2. Isaiah 49:17 DSS, LXX, Tg., Vg. builders

13 Shout for joy,(A) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;(B)
    burst into song, you mountains!(C)
For the Lord comforts(D) his people
    and will have compassion(E) on his afflicted ones.(F)

14 But Zion(G) said, “The Lord has forsaken(H) me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

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

19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate(Q)
    and your land laid waste,(R)
now you will be too small for your people,(S)
    and those who devoured(T) 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.’(U)

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