Isaiah 49:8-15

Living Bible

^8-9 The Lord says, “Your request has come at a favorable time. I will keep you from harm and give you as a token and pledge to Israel, proof that I will reestablish the land of Israel and reassign it to its own people again. Through you I am saying to the prisoners of darkness, ‘Come out! I am giving you your freedom!’ They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on the grassy hills. ¹⁰ They shall neither hunger nor thirst; the searing sun and scorching desert winds will not reach them anymore. For the Lord in his mercy will lead them beside the cool waters. ¹¹ And I will make my mountains into level paths for them; the highways shall be raised above the valleys. ¹² See, my people shall return from far away, from north and west and south.”

¹³ Sing for joy, O heavens; shout, O earth. Break forth with song, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion upon them in their sorrow.

¹⁴ Yet they say, “My Lord deserted us; he has forgotten us.”

¹⁵ “Never! Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet even if that should be, I will not forget you.