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?’”

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Yahweh Remembers Zion

14 But[a] Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,
    and the Lord has forgotten me!”
15 Can a woman forget her suckling,
    refrain from having compassion on the child of her womb?
Indeed, these may forget,
    but[b] I, I will not forget you!
16 Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.
17 Your children hasten;
    your destroyers and those who laid you waste depart[c] from you.
18 Lift your eyes up all around and see;
    all of them gather; they come to you.
As surely as I live,[d]
    declares[e] Yahweh,
surely you shall put on all of them like an ornament,
    and you shall bind them on like a bride.

19 Surely your sites of ruins and desolate places and land of ruins,[f]

surely now you will be too cramped for your[g] inhabitants,[h]
    and those who engulfed you will be far away.

20 Yet the children born when you were bereaved[i] will say in your hearing,[j]

“The place is too cramped for me;
    make room[k] for me so that I can dwell.”

21 Then[l] you will say in your heart,

“Who has borne me these?”
    And, “I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and thrust away;
    so[m] who raised these?
Look at me! I was left alone;
    where have these come from?”[n]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:14 Or “And”
  2. Isaiah 49:15 Or “and”
  3. Isaiah 49:17 Or “move away”
  4. Isaiah 49:18 Literally “Life I”
  5. Isaiah 49:18 Literally “declaration of”
  6. Isaiah 49:19 Hebrew “ruin”
  7. Isaiah 49:19 Literally “cramped by”
  8. Isaiah 49:19 Hebrew “inhabitant”
  9. Isaiah 49:20 Literally “of your bereavement”
  10. Isaiah 49:20 Literally “ears”
  11. Isaiah 49:20 Literally “approach”
  12. Isaiah 49:21 Or “And”
  13. Isaiah 49:21 Or “and”
  14. Isaiah 49:21 Literally “these where they”